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Just wondering how other people handle this. As I understand it, a psi print is created when an object is in a person's possession, or simply nearby, for at least 6 hours, and for each of these six hours, the print lasts for 1 (adding to the total your psi score), at which time it dissipates at a rate of 1 every hour. As near as I can tell, this would work for virtually nothing beyond those six hours. An example they use is your wallet, which many people keep on their person every day. But while that may be so, it is not usually near that person for 24 hours that day, most people don't sleep with their wallets, or anything else they typically carry around with them during the day. So while they are sleeping for say 8 hours, that psi print is going to fade away. This severely limits the use of them and seems broken to me. In their example in the book, a guy carries around his minicomp regularly for a week, but in order for the rule to work as stated, he'd have to sleep and bathe with the thing, so unless that is true, their example does not follow the rules. And for that matter, what if the print is partially faded, how does it work then once it is back in your possession? Does it just start from scratch? That'd be annoying because then all you'd have to do is leave it somewhere for a minute and it's as good as gone.
So I was just wondering how other people handle this rule.

Okay, so I've never played Trinity, well, I participated in a short lived game here on the forums once about 5 years ago or something, but aside from that, nadda.
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I know a lot of the novas (Aberrants) lived through the Aberrant War and did the whole exodus thing. What I'm curious of is what happened to them? To my knowledge (and correct me if I'm wrong, please):
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Cestus Pax went ape shit and is actually a tainted baddy now.
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The Colony is now comprised entirely of his evil tainted eufiber and is less himself and more controlled by the alien mentality of his evil clothing (only white wolf could give us evil clothing...)
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Divis Mal is still around but he's not really a bad guy anymore? He's actually against The Colony's plans. (He's the bad ass who run Eden with the other 66 novas).
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And those are the only three off the top of my head.
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Anyone have any other dirt on the Trinity era Aberrants?

I've had a short story idea in mind for a while now and decided to get working on it in here, when I feel it's ready I'll move it to the fictions section on the main part of the site. Anyway here's the first part. * * * Sirens, hover engines, radio signals, they’re almost here! They’re finally coming to free us from it. Careful! Can’t let it know they’re coming or else it will try to get away, they have to kill it or it won’t stop. It’s resting now, it always rests after it kills, but only rests never sleeps. The others in the corner all whimpering, terrified, all looking at the blood drenched thing, praying they won’t be next. They don’t dare try to escape, others tried when they thought it was asleep they were torn apart by the beast. A little boy, Adrian the others called him, was starring at the window to his left, he knows they’ve arrived, you can tell by the look of hope across his face. He can’t let the others know, they’ll just alert it. “Adrian, careful, don’t let it know, it will be over soon”, There it couldn’t have heard that, it’s still in its slumbering state. Ah Adrian’s nodding, such a good boy, I hope he makes it through this, I hope they all do. Vehicle hatches opening, they’re here! Please don’t wake up, please. Rock a by monster on the tile floor… It twitched! No, rest some more, you’ve worked hard today, so many dead, you’re tired. Thank goodness, he’s relaxing again, but the others have begun to stir, they all know the police, or even the military, are here to save us or get us killed. They have to keep quiet! * * * “We’re three kilometres from our destination, ma’am”. The young officer, Banegri, said to his passenger, uncertainly. ,,She couldn’t blame him, she’d entered a trance a moment earlier to extend her sight, though she was well aware of her surroundings. “Shut the siren off, Mr Banegri, and order the others to do the same” she told him still focussing her attention in the distance ahead of them. She suddenly straightened, startling the driver, she wiped the newly formed layer of sweat from her brow and leaned over the data terminal in front of her and began typing. * * * “Incoming data message from Eyus Miller” The voice of the military client Nomad, chimed through Levin Blyth’s ear piece. He touched the pad to activate its holo display, risking the projections light giving away his position, Eyus must think it’s safe enough to send data rather than just audio. The data was a message and attached were updated schematics and markers signifying possible entry and exit points of the very building he was under and a rough location as to where the target was. We’ve got him now. * * * It smells something, it’s sniffing at the air towards what was a data terminal, it destroyed the moment it entered the room, along with anything else that required power to function. It hated electricity that was obvious, when each time it would rouse from its cat naps and would habitually strike at a terminal or a wall socket as it stalked by. But now it was studying the wreckage, as though it could see beyond it, wrinkling its nose and sneering with contempt. Ha! It’s actually annoyed. It’s leaving, and fast, to deal with something, more likely someone. It’s content to leave these people unguarded, no one will try to escape, it saw to that earlier, displaying the mangled corpses of the all those who attempted to flee when it left the room earlier. * * * “Levin, he’s pissed and he knows you’re there!” Eyus’ said urgently into the com, forgoing any security. “How long to go until the cops are in position?” The big man asked working on a spherical device the size of a melon as best he could in the dark sub-basement. “The assault teams are setting up here, they’ve sent two to meet you, should be there any second now. The actual cops are busy clearing the locals out”. She focussed again, and the sickening feeling struck again. “Three floors until he’s on you!” “Right! They’re here, deploying countermeasures and moving to position c. I hate this part”. He removed the cable connecting the melon device to Nomad and keyed in the activation code on the unit itself. The two officers waited for him to finish, they were wearing full assault garb and each with laser carbines at the ready, Levin motioned for them to gut the power to their goggles. “It’s set, keep the lights off, he’s attracted to it. Let’s go.” Thirty seconds later the entire floor was engulfed in white light. * * *

Hi everyone
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I'm starting a new Aeon/Trinity campaign in October and knowing my usual players the freeform system from the Players' Guide would provide a flexibility that would fit their playing style. My last Aeon campaign ran the normal system but over time had some flex creep in but that was over ten years ago now so I'm a bit rusty.
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I know the general complaints at the time were that the Freeform rules were just too complicated and I vaguely recall some kind folks put together simplified versions which were hosted at the old site - but don't appear to have been ported over. Does anyone know where I can find them?
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Cheers
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Jash
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(Yes, I know my timing sucks and I'm just chomping at the bit to get the Onyx Path version but serendipty isn't really my thing.)

So, I've been playing a lot of Mass Effect and I honestly think there is some potential for the ME universe to be used with the Trinity system. One thing that came to mind was the skill system for it and how it gives those who possess no biotics the ability to still kick all kinds of ass by awarding special abilities as they increase their potential with weapons. The only thing I noticed was that there would need to be something Neutrals would need instead of 'Psi' in order to fuel their greater than average capability and Willpower is a bit to steep of a cost IMO on some of these. This is basically a standard that was recently set up with the nWoD fighting style Merits and I honestly think the system could mesh well. Basically, just like a Psion who buys his powers one dot at a time and gets something for it, a soldier or any other 'Neut', could simply place their aptitudes in weapons skills. Like Pistols for example... O 'Quick on the Draw' - You automatically add your dots in Firearms (the ability, not the skill pool) to your initiative whenever you have a pistol at the ready. Alternatively, you may quick draw your pistol as a reflexive action if you did not have it ready at the beginning of combat. In this case you may add your Firearms dots to your initiative score on the round following your quick draw. OO 'Click, Click, Boom!' - Swiftly you can ejects a magazine or power pack from your firearm and immediately load another one and you're good to go. With this measure of aptitude with pistols you are capable of reloading your pistol a reflexive action. If you are using two pistols at once you may reload both simultaneously with a standard action (requiring you to split you dice pool). OOO 'Roomsweeper' - Any pistol in your hands is dangerous. While this skill is used you half any dice pool penalties for multiple actions applied to firing a pistol and can ignore the weapon's Rate attribute for a single turn, up to twice the weapons' normal capabilities. This ability costs 1 'Psi' point to activate for a single turn. OOOO 'Gun-Fu' - Fire a pistol so swiftly and squeeze of rounds wit such fluid accuracy that it's almost like the pistol is another weapon entirely. You may fire any pistol as if it were an SMG capable of burst fire. OOOOO 'Marksman' - The gun, the bullet, the shooter; all are one. At a nearly Zen-like level of mastery you are a lethal force on a battle field with nothing but a pistol. While this ability is active you may take you total Psi score and divide it up amongst your pistols attributes and you may change them every turn on your initiative score. Any multiple actions you take do not suffer a dice penalty but this ability does not let fire the weapon more than twice the weapon's normal Rate. This ability costs 3 Psi and 1 Willpower. It lasts for a number of actions equal to the characters' Psi score. These might be a bit unbalanced and need tweaking, but it was just something I tossed together off the top of my head.

Been pondering what the trinity setting would be like if, China had to nuke the planet. It would make for a very neat setting I think. I would like to hear your thoughts. Some thoughts and Tidbits: People: Humans would survive, though most would like in small, isolated regions. Like the Blight Zone, but everywhere... Surviving Novas: Some would survive, mostly through dumb luck or extraordinary planning. Very few would survive anywhere near a nuke strike, though some might. Divis Mal: This guy could survive a nuke, though it would likely hurt him. That and coordinated strikes from other Novas might put him down. Of perhaps Mercer might get involved... Aeon: These folks would have to get involved. The Babel Dossier as well as hidden and protected fascilities would give them a unique responsibility here. China: China would likely be the top existing Earth government. Even in RL, China has massive underground fascilities in case of nuclear war. That and the huge space fleet that launched the nukes. Mutation: Sub-aberrant style mutants would outnumber Novas in the grim years to come. A New Flesh will present several options for mutant PCs. Radiation and Nukes: By the time of the ultimatum, I imagine all kinds of horrible weapons will have been developed, some designed specifically for Novas. This guy came up with the following damage for Nukes: Warhead 10KT (0.01MT), Effect 18[30], Expected damage 37.2 100KT (0.1MT), Effect 36[60], Expected damage 74.4 11000KT (1 MT), Effect 72[120], Expected damage 148.8 10,000KT (10MT), Effect 144[240], Expected damage 297.6 100,000KT (100MT), Effect 288[480], Expected damage 595.2

I'm thinking of running Trinity sometime in the next few months (after I finish my current Star Trek campaign), and I'll be running it using the nWoD system. Here are my conversion notes. • Use the nWoD system, except change Computer to Engineering (reflecting both the skills in Trinity and the fact that in the 22nd century, computers have ceased to be as arcane and mysterious as they are considered today. • All Psi rolls for Modes are made using Psi + Mode • All Psi costs are reduced by 1, to a minimum of 0 for • & •• dot Modes, 1 for ••• & •••• dot Modes and 2 for ••••• dot Modes). Quantakinesis is an exception to this rule, add +1 Psi point to the cost of using all Quantakinesis modes. • Learning a Mode (including the basic technique) gives the character both the standard and the alternative techniques (from the Order book), and all characters learning a particular Aptitude learn both basic techniques. For example, an Electrokinetic with one dot in Technokinesis would automatically know both Power Surge & Initialize without any additional cost. • Use the Spell Factors charts in Mage: The Awakening pp. 117-119 for Target, Area, and Duration. Also, add a table for range (see below). • Spending 1 additional point of Psi reduces the "spell factor" penalties by 2. • Use the rules listed below that do not contradict any of the above points. • Additional points of Psi are purchased as Gnosis in Mage (3 dot Merit in chargen, Current Rating x 8 with XP, Modes are purchased as New dots x 5, Auxiliary Modes cost 8 XP. • Drop Virtue, Vice, and Morality. All Willpower is recovered upon waking from at least 4 hours of sleep (as well as recovering all Willpower at the end of a Story or 1 point of Willpower after achieving a significant goal). • Investing the Psi spend on a power that only affects or enhances the psion allows that power that to be used indefinitely. In addition, when Biokinetics invest psi, they recover this psi after one full day. Range Table (short range) Range Dice Penalty Touch None 1 meter -2 2 meters -4 5 meters -6 10 meters -8 Range Table (long range)* Range Dice Penalty Listed Range None 2 x Range -2 5 x Range -4 10 x Range -6 20 x Range -8 * In all cases, Attunement Range is the maximum possible range for any Mode that lacks a Familiarity-based range. Ranges based on Familiarity (like those for Translocation or Transmassion) cannot be increased. Character Generation Psions Attributes: 6/5/4, Skills 12/10/8, Merits 13, 5 dots for Aptitude Modes, Starting Psi = (Sta + Wits + Pre)/2, 15 Experience Points. Nihonjin Superiors Attributes: 8**/6/4, Skills 12/10/8, Merits 13, 20 Experience Points. ** This includes the Exceptional Potential Merit for each of the three Primary Attributes. Superiors also automatically also gain the Quick Healer, Toxin Resistance, and Disease Resistance Merits, as well as 1 dot in Subterfuge and 3 dots in any single skill associated with their Primary Attributes. All of these additions are free. Superiors who still work for the Nihonjin government also gain 3 dots in Status (Nihonjin government) and 2 dots in Resources. If they go rogue, they lose all three dots in Status and one dot in Resources. Rule Modifications Combat: Do not count the weapon's damage bonuse when determining if the attack hits or not. Add in bonuses from burst fire, special sights, or formatted biotech to the Stat + Skill and roll, then add in any additional success from the damage bonus if this roll succeeds in hitting the target. Defense: Defense becomes the higher of Dexterity or Wits, rather than the lower. Experience Point Costs: Current Rating x 5 for Aptitude Modes and 7 XP for Auxilary Modes Willpower: Characters regain all Willpower points after a full nights sleep. Altered Merit Costs Revised Merit Costs Ambidextrous •• Disease Resistance • (-1 level on diseases) Giant ••• Iron Stomach Quick Healer •• Strong Lungs •• Toxin Resistance • (-1 level on toxins) Implanted Merits Medical Nanotech ••• 4x healing and ½ rate aging, includes Natural Immunity Merit Gills ••• Enhanced Sight •• Gain the advantages of vidspecs in your eyes. Noetic Merits Enhanced Attunement (• or ••) Your psionic sensitivity is substantially greater than the norm for someone with your Psi rating. For every dot spent on this Merit, your Psi is considered one point higher for purposes of Attunement rolls and range. Detached •• You have the rare ability to view your psionic abilities as separate from your physical existence, and can maintain this distance even under adverse conditions. Any wound penalties don’t affect your Psi rolls until you reach Incapacitated. If you are Incapacitated, you may spend a Willpower point to attempt a Psi roll at half your normal dice pool (rounded down). This action may only be performed once per scene, after which you fall unconscious, so choose your last ditch efforts carefully. Exceptional Potential •••• Something in the Prometheus Effect altered your genetic structure for the better, giving you the potential to reach preternatural levels of development in some aspect of basic human nature. You gain an extra dot in one Attribute, raising its base value from • to ••. You may raise this enhanced Attribute to a maximum value of ••••• • with initial points or XP. Exceptional Potential may be purchased for more than one Attribute. This Merit is only available to psion characters and can only be purchased at character generation. lncreased Tolerance •• Your biological template is strong enough to maintain a surprisingly high degree of bioware. Normals gains a tolerance equal to their Stamina + 1 and can even have devices formatted to them. Psions simply add their Stamina to their Psi for purposes of determining tolerance. Neutrals still cannot use any biotech that increases psionic powers (since they have none) and also cannot use any biotech that requires the expenditure of Psi points. Advanced Biotech therapies can give this Merit to both neutrals and psions. Mode Natural •• or •••• You are particularly strong in one of your Aptitude's Modes, though you haven't necessarily trained heavily in that Mode yet. Designate one of your primary Modes when you purchase this Merit. This mode costs New Rating x 4 XP if it is part of your Aptitude or 6 XP as an Auxiliary Mode. In addition, if you take the 2 dot version of this Merit, you may add one die to all Psi rolls for that Mode. If you take the 4 dot variation, you also reduce all Psi costs for use of that Mode by one (to a minimum of zero). In both versions, you can purchase 5 dots during character generation using your 5 initial Mode dot. You may not purchase this Merit more than once. Psi ••• Each time you purchase this Merit, you gain one additional point of Psi. This Merit can only be purchased before play starts, with the character's starting Merits. A character's initial Psi score cannot be higher than 7. Psi Sink •••• You are as close to noetically neutral as is possible without having Taint and being considered an Aberrant. Psions (the subquantum energy packets, not the human beings) seem to flow into you at an accelerated rate, an effect that is vaguely disconcerting for psionically sensitive individuals in your immediate vicinity. You gain an additional die to resist any Psi powers used against you and any Psi power used to affect or perceive you costs one additional Psi point. This Merit may not be purchased by psions or latent psions — only neutrals. Strong Template ••• For some reason, your subquantum pattern is very strongly bonded. You are very difficult to alter with Psi or Taint powers — any such effect that has a direct, physical effect on you or an item with your psi print is rolled at -2 dice. Note that this does not include powers that affect your environment, such as Plasma Manipulation, nor does it include those that affect your mind or emotions, such as Mind Bomb. Additionally, you stand out like a beacon to clairsentients and other sensitives — any Attunement roll or other means of subquantum perception gains an automatic success for the purposes of detecting your presence. Other Merits • Internal Compass You always know which way is north, even indoors, and you can retrace your steps of any path you've traveled (with penalties if your senses were impeded) on a successful Wits + Composure or Wits + Survival roll (your choice). •• Lightining Calculator You can do advanced calculations in your head, gaining +1 dice on all appropriate Science and Engineering rolls and +2 dice when gambling in any game where knowledge of probability can help. ••• Lingustic Prodigy Halve the cost of the Languages Merit. Also, with a successessful extended Intelligence + Academics roll (one roll per day) the character can communicate very basic information in the new language if the character is immersed in a setting where this is the most common language. The difficulty depends on how close the new language is to one the character already knows: Knows a related language (Spanish & French) 5 Knows a vaugely related language (Spanish & English) 10 Knows an unrelated language (Spanish & Chinese) 15 Alien Language 20 (continued in next post)

British Artech, contributed by Chris Hill
British Artech (BA) is a small hardtech artillery and weapons manufacturer that caters to smaller militaries operating out of Europe and Russia. BA's goal is to provide small armies with mobile artillery at relatively affordable prices.
BA is known as a very aggressive company. It specifically targets markets where it can undercut the competition, and its ability to create new markets in suffering areas of Europe is nothing short of an art form.
The exec's at BA are a sour lot - motivated purely by money. They have never engaged in the practice of marketing themselves as a company that provides 'defenses' - far from it, they have always marketed themselves as a company that can provide weapons - devastating military weapons - to any wannabe despot out there.
In The Shatter BA is ever present. The company has a team of 'Sales Executives' that are taken from the local populace with promises of riches from cuts of each sale made. These Sales Executives are almost as bloodthirsty as the local warlords they sell weapons to.
BA is very successful in its chosen markets. Its merchandise is low cost, effective (if crude and ugly) and they 'market' themselves well. BA is currently testing the idea of expanding its 'Sales Executive' program to other hot-spots throughout known space.
Considering the success of BA, it is not surprising that there are corporations and government interests across Earth that would dearly like to the the company put out of business. There are many claims that BA is a major factor in the continuing destabilization of European and Russian countries.
BA is constantly the target of law suits, aggressive political moves and has come to the attention of at least two of the Psi Orders. The United Nations is attempting to curb the activities of BA through traditional means.
The Aesculapian Order has run afoul of BA on several occasions. Its not surprising considering the completely opposite views each organization has - The Aesculapian's want to repair & rebuild Europe, whilst BA seems to want it to burn in the fires of a new war: with weapons bought from them.
The Aesculapian Order even once attempted to coerce the British Government into investigating the practices of British Artech. The investigation was barely paid lip service, and is bogged down in massive amounts of paperwork and 'incompetence'. A senior Aesculapian, during an abortive meeting with BA reps and the British Government is famous for saying (when he finally lost all semblance of control in anger):
"The cancer of Europe is not lack of food, lack of supplies - its you two bastards (pointing at the BA and British Government reps) that will be the downfall of everything we have tried to do!"
To see complete details of weapons and equipment produced by British Artech - click here to visit the Technology section.

Rising Storm - taking the Trinity Uberplot further, contributed by John TFS
Summary: A take on how the Trinity Uberplot could develop after AE:D
I didn't get as far as I'd wanted in my "next part of the plot" post. So, let me give a general overview of how I think things are going to go after Alien Encounter 2.
Once the various "higher-ups" fully examine the data from the Coalition spy mission, they'll quickly reach the conclusion that Earth probably cannot be defended with the current resources available. For one thing, the Ark itself will outmass and outgun the whole of Earth's fleet put together. For another, the samples of their hardtech indicate that it is very much in advance of what is currently available even in Nippon. So, not only does the Ark effectively "outnumber" Earth's forces, it has a technological edge approximately equivalent to that held by an F-16 fighter jet over a WWII-era Japanese Zero (watch the movie "The Final Counterdown" for a demo of the effects of such an edge). And, of course, there are at least 30 or so very powerful Aberrants on board the Ark. Conclusion: Earth needs help.
One of the first doors Earth will knock on will be that of the Qin. They're our allies, after all. With all their biotech abilities, they'd certainly able to compensate for the advantage the Coalition has. Unfortunately, the Qin are less than helpful. From their point of view, the Coalitions and their Aberrant allies are essentially a human problem which might not even affect the Qin. Thus, the Qin have no wish to send out a goodly chunk of their people to fight and die in a conflict that has little to do with them.
The humans counter with a proposal that the Qin at least "lend" them some of their biotech factories so that they may quickly produce sufficient ships to defeat the Coalition. The Qin again refuse. Giving the humans a few terraforming items was one thing. Giving them large-scale factories which they could study and duplicate is something else entirely. Having Qin-level biotech along with their hardtech (and anything gained from the Coalition ark assuming it's destroyed) along with their psionic capabilities would give humanity a considerable strategic edge over the Qin. And relations between the two races might not be so cordial somewhere down the line...
Ultimately, somebody makes a bizarre counterproposal: Suppose the Qin provided the factories and advisors to a third party to use on the humans behalf? Suppose further that this third party would be incapable of learning anything more about the biotech except how to operate it within a few basic parameters? The third party, of course, would be the Chromatics.
The Chromatics were able to learn to build and operate the biotech ships and weapons they received from the Doyen, but learned little else. They didn't even understand enough about the ships to repair them. That's why the ships were so bulky and redundant, because nothing could be fixed if it broke. Thus, the Qin could supply biotech ships, weapons and factories to the Chromatics. They could also easily program in a "self-destruct" parameter that would eliminate their biotech once the Coalition conflict ends.
This idea is, of course, awesomely risky. Humanity has only recently finished a minor war with the Chromatics. Karroo station is still under attack, after all. The Chromatics themselves are involved in a civil war with one side still wishing to destroy every human in existence! There's no guarantee that the Chromatics wouldn't decide to take their new (and far superior) ships and resume their attack on Earth.
On the other hand, Earth does have a relationship with the Fireclaw and the Chromatics who now distrust the Doyen as much as the Aberrants. In their somewhat primitive way, the Chromatics are quite a bit savvier about the Coalition than are the Qin. They would recognize the likelihood that the Coalition and their Deceiver allies would come to wage "black war" on the whole of the Chromatic race and doing so through sickening "rape-like" violations. The whole idea behind the attacks on Karroo and Earth was to "get the deceivers before they come here and get us" and attacking the Coalition. Plus which, the humans are the only aliens from the black hell of space that HAVEN'T deceived the Chromatics and visited wholesale slaughter on them (the Aberrants during the "Night of Lies" and the Doyen by tricking them into black war with the humans). While the humans certainly killed many Chromatics, at least they didn't lie, which is more than anybody else has done. Furthermore, the humans even acted to destroy the Aberrants on Chromo-Prime while preserving the lives of the Chromatics. They even revealed the Doyen's deceptions.
Figure that would be one or two adventures in "Rising Storm." The PCs have to go (or return to) Chromo-Prime and convince the Chromatics to ally with Earth against the Coalition. One adventure might involve going to Karroo and convincing (with the help of some of their Chromatic allies) the Chromatic force stationed there that the "war" is over and then helping them to return home. The second adventure will probably involve helping their allies win the civil war and unite the Chromatics with Earth against the far deadlier threat of the Coalition. I'd expect a dangerous commando raid to capture the leaders of the Black War faction. I'd also expect a confrontation with the Doyen from the end of Alien Encounter 1: Invasion (who probably bears humanity a grudge for screwing up his manipulations).
By the way, on a semi-related topic: There was a post about a romantic relationship between a psion and a nova. I figure that the Eden Novas will be heavily involved in the "Rising Storm" saga and that the Legions will be given command over the forces defending the planet. So, I figure that there's a high probability of Proxy Larrson and Apollo Milikin spending a good deal of time together during the conflict. Given their personalities and attitudes about defending humanity, I could easily see those two becoming close. Any thoughts?

The next part of the plot - an idea!, contributed by John TFS
Summary: Ideas for after the official book Alien Encounter: Deception
That's right, this post isn't related to Process 418, at least not directly. Instead, I'd like to offer ideas on where to go beyond the adventure supplement, Alien Encounter 2: Deception. For my purposes, I'm designating the continuation as "Rising Storm."
Background: In the wake of revelations about the Coalition, the UN, the Orders and Aeon Trinity begin preparations for war. One thing the various top officials recognize beyond doubt is that Earth desperately needs allies. The advantages the Coalition and/or Aberrants have in terms of power and technology are most likely too great for Earth to overcome on its own. We need help.
Adventure 1: Serpent in the Garden
Plot setup: Swallowing some 100 years of anti-nova fear and suspicion, the UN Alliance has decided to fight fire with fire. Or at least Aberrants with Aberrants. So, they organization a full-scale diplomatic mission to Planet Eden to ask for the help of some of the very Novas that were driven into exile decades earlier. Enter the PCs.
If the PCs were the ones who went along on the spy mission against the Coalition, their inclusion makes perfect sense now. After all they're some of the only ones who've had first-hand contact with the Aberrant/Coalition forces and their perspective is valuable. Otherwise, they could be a team of Diplomats, Scientists, Soldiers, etc. who are sent along for their expertise, influence, etc. One possibility would be to run the Eden contact from the other side, with the PCs being Eden Novas!
Plot: During the negotiations to bring the Eden Novas in on Earth's side, somebody is murdered, an Eden Nova who was quite outspoken against aiding Earth. Suddenly the PCs are in a precarious position - stuck on a planet ruled by very powerful Aberrants, many of whom are convinced of their complicity in the murder of one of their own. The PCs must solve the mystery and survive to reveal the truth. Even afterwards, they must help convince the Eden Novas to help protect the Planet that once exiled them.
General Theme: Prejudice vs. Understanding is a good theme for this story. Despite the currently non-hostile contact between Eden and Earth, there's still plenty of tension, suspicion, bigotry and grudge-holding beneath the surface on both sides. Many of the Eden Novas quietly (or not so quietly) resent the idea that they may have to risk their lives and endanger their people to protect a planet that still mostly despises them. Some on the diplomatic team resent and distrust all Aberrants. They dislike having to ask a bunch of "freaks" for help and harbor suspicion that the Edenites are actually in league with the main group of Aberrants but running their own "game" on Earth and the Upeo.
General Mood: Deception and Isolation. While most every one puts up a good front, quite a few characters will have secrets to hide. The PCs are also very far from home and in the middle of beings they've been taught to fear and hate their entire lives. Success will only come by overcoming their own prejudices in order to find the truth.

Review of Terra Verde, contributed by Chris Hill
Let me start this review by warning you well in advance, that I have never reviewed a product before. Yup - you may not agree with this review, you not find it detailed enough or may not even think this article worthy of being called a 'review' - so with that little admission out of the way - lets get on with it shall we.
There I was, before Christmas doing my rounds on the White Wolf discussion forum, reading through all the comments, guesses and advance praise and criticism for the upcoming Terra Verde. Like any other Aeon fan, I'd been eagerly awaiting the next installment of the Trinity line even though a couple of days before news had broke that Terra Verde would be in e-book format.
For a laugh, I decided to place a post on the EON forums stating that I had got hold of Terra Verde early - well I thought it was funny. After placing the post (and admitting in the post that I hadn't actually got a copy of Terra Verde early) I went back to the WW forums - and saw the magical words 'TERRA VERDE ON SALE NOW' - what? Had someone thought of the same wind-up I had, and posted it on the WW forums? No. I clicked on the post and there it was - official word that the (e) book I had waited so long for was finally available.
I dutifully (read frantically, excitedly) clicked my way though to the catalogue, handed over the credit card number and started the more than acceptable 4MB download.
Before warbling on any further, I feel it fair to inform you that I want to detail my experiences on the whole process here, the download, getting Acrobat to open it, first impressions, particular praise or criticism etc. - after all, this is not only the first release in a long while for Trinity, but also its first e-book. I think the e-book 'experience' will have as much impact on sales as will the content and quality of the book.
Anyway - back to the warbling and random scribbling.....
As word spread on the WW forum that the book was out, that people have downloaded it - I waited for my wonderfully fast 56k connection to the Internet to retrieve the book for me. Upon reaching 99% the server kicked me. Not fun. After messing about a bit with IE I got back to the download and this time it worked fine. No problem whatsoever - and not a bad download time on 56k for a 4MB file. I guess my eagerness to get the book won out against my knowledge that the WW server may well be a little busy!
Well, there I was, Terra Verde .pdf icon on my PC desktop. I didn't wait long - it was early in the morning here UK time, (like 1am or something) but I wanted to see the book - so I opened up the file.
There it was, Terra Verde full color cover staring out at my from my computer screen. The first thing I noticed was the style of the cover art - that had to be BROM. I happen to be a bit of a BROM fan, so this was an added bonus. The cover art depicts a Norca in a Prometheus chamber - very nicely done.
The second thing I noticed was the formatting of the file. A4, laid out exactly like a normal Trinity book - although not exactly perfect for printing purposes (see the WW forms for all manner of posts on how to print the file - there's more information on there than I can type here).
I skipped straight to the contents page, which I was delighted to find broke the book down into the same chapters as the rest of the line: Fiction Introduction Psi Order Norca Biokinesis and Biotechnology Sudamerica Storytelling Dramatis Personae Appendix
All looked well so far - the only thing that I was immediately disappointed about was a lack of an Index page - something that has always bothered me about the Aeon Continuum books - but that's just a minor (personal preference) gripe.
Like a lot of fans I would imagine - I skimmed through the 128 pages as fast as I could to see any information on major plot hooks and the Uberplot - yes they are in their, but I will come back to that (see Pro's and Con's at the end of this review).
The entire book kicks off very well with a notable special thanks to Andrew Bates, and I was pleased to see an introduction from the new developer Bruce Baugh. I think that Bruce's introduction is a very nice touch - for those who do not know him from the White Wolf forums - he has been the advocate of all things Trinity related since he took over - and is one of the major reasons that we received this book at all I suspect - so a brief introduction from him was a good thing to see.
My random thoughts on each section:
Fiction: Down to the Bone
For some reason the fiction parts of Trinity books are the last thing I read - but in this case I started first with the fiction, called 'Down to the Bone'. Without giving the whole thing away (go buy the book!) the fiction focuses on a close family member of Pai de Norca. The piece of fiction sums up quite nicely the aspects of what makes a member of the Norca - a driving need to succeed at what they do, to put humanity first above personal feelings and it explores an interesting take on 'loyalty' to the Order. When I reread the piece after completing the book for the first time I realized that the story, more than any other in the rest of the Trinity books, illustrated what it means to be a member of the Order that the book covers.
Psi Order Norca
This chapter open with an introduction that sets the scene very well. All the Order books have a 'profile of Psi Order: xxxx, and the write-up of the Norca one right off the bat goes into some depth explaining the relationship between the Norca and the rest of the world. The description details the reactions of the public at large to the Norca when they first appeared, and interesting lines such as 'The Norca's mere existence has spawned the development of psionic detection methods' go a long way to illustrating the attitudes of various governments and corporations towards the Norca.
Keeping the book in line with the rest of the Trinity Order publications, there is then a breakdown of the 'guiding principles' of the Norca, as well as a concise description of the various groups under the Norca 'umbrella'. I have a habit of making changes to the various factions presented within each Order book, but the one thing I felt was extremely valuable was the 'Secrets of Norca Success' which details the common bonds between the various Norca and the collective attitudes and beliefs. For me this part clearly outlined the intense emotion that del Fuego inspires in members of his Order. It also reiterated the 'work ethic' of the Norca very well - and did a lot to emphasize the passion the Norca have for their duties to humanity has a whole - there is a distinct deliberate illustration of how seriously the Norca take their duties - perhaps more so than any of the other Orders.
By page 17 the outline of the various factions and training practices are completed. I could go into detail about the various factions - but I won't, as I'd prefer you bought the book. What I will say is that there were no great surprises in there for me personally. There are the usual 'administration' and 'special ops' descriptions as you would come to expect from an Order book. The interesting tidbits are in the sidebars. Details of the 'secret war' and the like emphasize the common goals of the Norca. It seems that there was an intention to illustrate that there are 'divisions' within the Norca, but purely from a logistical perspective - the Norca are certainly united in goals. This differs from, say, Luna Rising, where there are factions based on beliefs - but that is hardly surprising considering the religious 'overtones' of that particular Order.
Before launching into a section on the 'Norca in Society' there is a wonderfully 'cryptic' explanation of the coming to pass of 'Otha's Vision Process 418'. No - I'm not going to tell you what it is - and I don't think I could as this was obviously the first details of what will be further covered in Asia Ascendant. Things may even read 'a bit out of place' for the first time, but I urge you to remember that this book was planned for release at a time when Adventure!, Terra Verde and Asia Ascendant were all due out relatively close together. One thing I will tell you is that there are two confidential emails - one from 'Whitley' to 'Max' and and a reply from 'Max' that will start the whole rumor mill off again! I really can't wait for Asia Ascendant to elaborate on the foundation of just what 418 is / was, that was detailed on these two pages.
The book then moves towards the Norca in Society, and opens with its relationships to the Aeon Trinity and the other Orders. The relationship between the rank and file and from del Fuego's perspective is covered well, and you can clearly see where there are some tensions building between del Fuego and some of the other proxies. The most interesting revelation regards the Chitra Bhanu - for those of you who are Chib fans - you will be fascinated by this sidebar.
The next item covered is the history of the Norca, leading from del Fuego's early years, to his rising through the ranks of the (then pre-Psi) organization to the present day. This section differs from other books in that the Norca were an established organization before the advent of Psions. The history does a wonderful job of outlining del Fuego's personal victories during his acceptance as leader of the Norca, and then how he turns it into the Order that it is today.
Overall what this section did for me is reiterate the 'attitude' of the Norca as a whole group rather than as individuals (although that is covered to some extent). I have always presumed that del Fuego 'embodies' his Order, perhaps more than the other Proxies do theirs. In this case my presumption was correct. The Pai de Norca acts as he would want any of his 'children' to do - he leads by example, but you can sense that he is man of truly terrifying action when he wants to be - a good description of the Norca as a whole.
Biokinesis & Biotechnology
I know that players in my Trinity game will jump straight to this section of the book! This section open with some details on the various 'technobabble' used to describe Biokinesis from a 22nd Century scientific viewpoint - and introduces a lot of 'contradictions' as well. This part is written almost from the perspective of an outsider 'looking in' in some cases. It also illustrates that a lot of time and energy goes into trying to define exactly what Biokinesis is - and where the line is drawn (if drawn at all) between Biokinesis and Vitakinesis. I particularly enjoyed the section called 'How does it work?' because as a Storyteller I've been asked that before about BK - at least now I have a plausible sounding explanation!
There is an interest column about Biokinesis and how it works alongside the other aptitudes as well. Throughout this whole section their are clear indicators of a Biokinetics desire to push their own boundaries - this goes back to the work ethic thing I mentioned earlier on in this (now lengthening!) review. Although this is really game mechanics material (or the build up to it I should say...) the trend of making the various powers tied to either the development of the Trinityverse, or 'characteristic' of the Orders continues in this book. That's one of the things I personally enjoy about the Psi Orders - they each have clear 'character' from the top (the Proxies) down (the rank and file) and in their powers as well.
Then we move onto the new alternate powers - boy are some of them nasty! There is the usual additional basic ability, plus 15 new mode levels, as well as Psionic Dysfunction, as you would expect from an Order book. What I particularly liked here was the building on other sections of the book. You can SEE the divide between Biokinesis and Vitakinesis become quite blurred (and downright invisible) when you read some of the powers. The major addition to the powers is the expansion of a Norca's ability to affect other with their powers, and of course the obvious developments (we're talking leaps and bounds here) with their basic skills. The alternate powers are at once a fascinating illustration of the continuing push to expand their capabilities whilst at the same time giving clear Uberplot implications (ST's will know what I Mean when the read the bit on Vitakinesis).
What follows is almost a short essay on the applications of Biotechnology, across a variety of applications such as military and industry for example. What this section does is give you plenty of material to further develop your own ideas of what Biotechnology can and cannot do. There were several 'examples' of Biotech use here that I knew straight away I would apply to certain Trinity campaigns that I run - there are good examples of 'daily life' biotech as well. This section made (and still has me) thinking of the possibilities of Biotechnology and its uses - which I found very well written, and quite thought provoking (which wasn't bad as by this time it was well past two in the morning when I was reading it!).
This section of setting material is then rounded out with a fairly detailed topic called 'Pharmacology: Drugs for every occasion. Until I fully read this section I don't feel it came across just how important the recreational drug market is to the Norca in the present day. The detail here helped me understand how to portray this booming industry quite well, and gave a clear feel for what society would be like with a 'reliance' on recreational (but harmless) drug. Very interesting reading. There are also some examples of recreational drugs, and their game effects at the end of this section - but in fairness I only skimmed through them, as 'design phase' section also covered got me thinking about making up my own recreational drugs for inclusion in my games
Bioware:
Yes it needs a heading of it own. The section on Bioware is only 7 or so pages long - and a good few of those are a variety of new biotech devices for you gadget junkies out there. What I felt was most interesting about this section was the 'templates'. This explains how bioapps are grown, developed and produced in quite some detail. It clears up some of the practical issues about Biotech that I felt were not covered anywhere near enough in other Trinity books.
Nope, I'm not going to tell you the details of the biotech devices introduced. You should buy the book for that!
Sudamerica
With the Psi Order section done, the book moves onto Sudamerica proper. I have to admit that personally I know very little, if actually anything about South America - so this section was on the top of my 'read asap' list. The opening gives you an idea of the trials, tragedies and victories of the continent, with a short but crucial history of the nations. Throughout the entire book you get an impression of culture, loyalty, family and hard work being important to the Norca and the Sudamericans - and you can see why quite clearly here.
This entire section emphasize diversity and unity at the same time - of which the Norca are depicted as an example. The variety of cultures, attitudes and the like comes over very strongly - but so does the Trinityverse take on Sudamerica as a relatively united region that is home to a wide variety of individuals. There is even a section called 'Keeping the self together' which describes how society does manage to keep itself together when comprised of such individualistic peoples. Again this reminds you that the Norca manage to exist in a similar fashion. Pai de Norca and the 'responsibility to humanity' is the anchor by which the Norca (or more to the point the Norcan ideals) manage to survive in the midst of very individualistic people.
Religion is given a fairly broad amount of coverage as well, and acts almost as a 'newcomers guide to religion' for South America - describing the main religions and their relevant geography and the like. This may not be too detailed for some of - but for me it was spot on, Knowing absolutely nothing about South American religion (like myself) would be a major problem for those wanting to depict Trinity's South America with any realism - this section is a great tool to get the totally clueless like myself enough material to run with.
There is then some coverage of media, fashion and Anima Culture - where the irrepressible Kostbaar gets notable mention. I can honestly say in these few short pages there is too much to assess here for you - again the theme of diversity and individualism comes over strongly in some sections - but how things manage to stay together at the same time.
What comes next is a brief (three or four paragraph each) description of the major cities broken down by country, which whilst each description is very short actually manages to portray the look and feel of each city, as well as the people who inhabit them. The most fascinating (and I mean fascinating) part is the description of the living arcology and the Medellin Arcology- they are a treat, pure and simple!
I would personally have preferred this section to be longer, but space is always a premium in RPG books - so I am satisfied with what I got. There IS enough material to choose a variety of locations here to set your games - such as living arcologies, or underwater cities - the rest you can make up yourselves.
What you will find in this 'geography; section is plenty of plot hooks - there are speculations as to the future of some areas, there are direct tie-ins to the Uberplot (process 418!), and there is enough 'outline' material of groups involved in commerce and the drug trade to give you good ideas for a variety of stories.
Directly following the 'lay of the land' section comes an overview of how Sudamerica relates to both space exploration and to other nations. It was very interesting seeing just who were the major customers of Sudamerican produce. As you would imagine, the relationship between Nordamerica and Sudamerica is about as smooth as it ever was!
What I found about this whole chapter was a great depth of description for the diversity that makes up the Sudamerican whole, with a good amount of planted 'plot devices' - but I feel it needed to be longer. I personally would prefer to loose the 14 pages of character templates to say, half that size, and allow for more description of the locations in Sudamerica. The whole chapter is very well written, and I think that great care was taken to 'show' Sudamerican culture to beginners - as the vast majority of people buying this book will not be from South America. I think this was a good move and it has been done excellently. Until know Sudamerica was a place I hadn't set any games in, but this chapter has prompted me to start writing a game in the Living Arcology!
Storytelling
YES! A list of Sudamerican names! Seriously for a minute - some of the ST sections of the other Order books (especially the earlier ones) left me feeling somewhat disappointed Not this one. Straight of the bat the book illustrates how to play and run Norca (called 'Being sneaky with style' by the way) and after a couple of pages moves into Storytelling Sudamerica, but not before some more information about the Uberplot (there is a lot of hidden Uberplot stuff in this book).
The 'people' section here was the most interesting for me. There are quite evocative descriptions of native culture, law, crime and punishment, politics and the like. What I also found interesting was the details concerning the 'hotspots' where regions and organizations clash. This 'Land of Conflict' section peeled back the skin (to borrow a title from earlier in the book) to show just what happens when opposing beliefs cause the various peoples of Sudamerica to come to blows.
Before moving onto Aberrant in Sudamerica, there are two pages on using nature (that's the trees and stuff, not the game mechanic) in a Trinity game. These two pages alone illustrate just how diverse the ecosystems of Sudamerica are. There over a dozen examples of how nature and various events could be great backgrounds for Trinity games - by this time I was moving the idea of a Sudamerican based game much, much further up my list of game ideas! This is very useful, it brings together a lot of the information from the previous sections of the book and presents them in a nice package that any ST will find interest - even if they decide not to use them.
Then there are the Aberrants - personally I have never liked Aberrants in the Trinityverse - I left them pretty much well alone - that is just a personal preference I have - but there is something I can't quite put my finger on regarding the Aberrants in Terra Verde. In case ST's get annoyed with me, I won't go into any detail here but the few Aberrants that are detailed are what you might expect - fascinatingly terrible and remarkable - they would have to be to survive in the nation that is home to the Norca!
Dramatis Personae
I will not give too much away at all about the details on Pai de Norca - except that I think the side bar about his little.........problem.........is one of the funniest things I have read in a Trinity book - especially the last line about what del Fuego thinks about his predicament.
This rest of this section is a delight. There are some six prominent Norcans detailed, as well as 7 notable Sudamericans. The people detailed within are a good example of the writing as a whole - the people illustrate the diversity of both the Norca and Sudamerica. For the Norca there is even a 'marketing / PR' type that is the spokesperson for the Norca, which is an interesting deviation from any preconceptions I had about the Order as a whole. The notable Sudamericans include an excellent description of the one-and-only Kostbaar. The description of the attitude of Sudamericans to Kostbaar (he is considered a 'good joke' in some circles) had me laughing.
To compliment the Dramatis Personae are 5 portraits (including Kostbaar, who looks exactly as I though he would for some reason) which are again of the excellent quality of the rest of the 'portrait art' throughout the book.
Appendix - Character Templates and Character Sheet
For me personally I feel that whilst this section of any order book help illustrate the diversity of the given Order - Character Templates take up too many pages. There are seven character templates in Terra Verde, which is 14 pages if you count the character sheets and the description pages. I have never used any character template in any of the Order books - and to my knowledge neither have my players (there are about 7 players in my group). They make interesting reading to be sure - but I always feel that they are simply filling up space - which I still feel with this latest offering.
The character sheet is welcome as always, and is laid out in exactly the same way as the other two page character sheets in the other Order / Location books. I can;t really say any more than that for the character sheet - although I hope that the sheet will eventually find its way to the White Wolf web site - but I'm a hopeful kind of chap! At least with an e-book I don't have to scan the thing into my PC to print.
Pro's and Con's
Pro's:For me what appears as potentially complex subject matter - has been explained in an easy to read, well written and enjoyable way. The artwork is excellent - I particularly like the dramatis personae artwork, and the Aberrant artwork. FULL of ideas - there is simply so much to this book I cant do it justice here - there is enough material here to keep you going with Norca or Sudamerica based games alone for a few years at least! Process 418 has come to pass - and you are left 'baying' for the next book Thoroughly well written all round Hey its a Trinity book for heavens sake! I wasn't sure about e-books until I read this. This book has revitalized my faith in the Trinity line (and the Continuum by extension) as a whole - hats off to all involved, particularly Bruce Baugh.
Cons
[*]Only the one - bloody character templates. I can't stand them. Rip them out of the next book and put the space to better use! As RPG'rs we come up with a lot of characters and NPC's ourselves, if I need examples of how it could be done - I certainly don't need 14 pages of the darned things!

Trinity Field Report (TFR) Media Review, contributed by Chris Hill
Author: Rick Jones
Developer: Andrew Bates
Concept by: Timothy Paul Cooper, Scott Nimmo, Mikko Rautalahti
Editor: Allison Sturms
All Eye Stuff: Richard Thomas
Artists: Jeff Holt, Matt Milberger, Mark Jackson, Steve Rude, Shaggy Dixon, Leif Jones, Griffon Sykes, William O'Conner
Product ID: WW9204
ISBN: 1-56504-771-0
Price: $4.95
The Trinity Field Reports, as you may be aware, are wafer-thin 24-page (not including the cover) color setting books filled with useful tidbits of information based on a particular theme. The Trinity series also benefited from (print releases) TFR: Psi Laws, TFR: Extrasolar Colonies and TFR: Alien Races. There were also TFR: Corporate Life & TFR: Oceania, which were released in HTML format on the White Wolf web site.
TFR: Media focuses on the entertainment industry of the 22nd Century. As with all TFR's, space is such a premium that subjects, when covered, are only done so sparingly - giving players and ST's a brief outline - a taste of the particular subject mater.
TFR: Media starts off with an 'in-setting' OpNet mail from Neville Archer of Aeon Neptune Division which talks the reader through the capabilities of 22nd media, and to a lesser degree, its effects on daily life. Whilst providing a useful overview of the state of current entertainment technology, this e-mail also serves as a handy contents page for the rest of the book - each major item mentioned is covered on the following pages, in order.
The first 'section' (sections are usually a couple of pages at most, given the size of the book this is understandable), is titled 'general Media' and gives an insetting overview of the various kinds of media available to the 22nd Century inhabitant, as well as some detail of their impact on related technologies. As with the trend in TFR's, this information is presented insetting - in the form of a report from 'Australian Terrestrial Office, Deputy Office Director Matthew Kuffner'.
General Media compares the current media technologies to that of the late-20th Century, and explains how that technology has grown, combined and diversified right up to the creation of the current OpNet. This information reads and flows well for the full page. Complimenting this information are two 'sidebars' (in the same style prevalent throughout the Trinity RPG line). The first outlines the differences (in audience and in technology) between Holovision ('vids') and Holosims, and the second is a 'ratings game' report from Dazyl Grenich (MMI reporter) and outlines the current top-of-the-ratings-chart shows on the OpNet, and manages to tie into some of the ongoing development in the Trinity 'Uberplot' ('Huang-Marr' - Darkness Revealed Trilogy )when describing the 'excellent numbers' achieved by popular 'vid 'Strike Team Psion'.
Finally this section is finished off with three large (they take up half a page) 'promo-boards' for the 'vids 'Tuna Sandwich', 'Strike Team Psion' and 'Retrospective, with Warren Shaw'. The Strike Team Psion advert is easily the best, although you cannot ignore the humor factor in the 'Tuna Sandwich' advert - it makes you wonder where White Wolf get the people that end up posing for photo-pieces in their books.
The next section 'State of the Art' takes up a full two pages. State of the Art looks at how the various technologies work from a 'user' perspective. The opening paragraph starts with '.....more material is transmitted in a single day than a viewer can watch in a year'. This section gives a clear description of how a user can keep up with the thousands of OpNet channels available 24/7, and available for download for later viewing. This section clearly illustrates how a user can 'tag' programs for saving and later viewing, and how a user can manipulate programs via multi-angles, scene skipping and the like. It brings to mind the current state of DVD technology - but via hyper-fast broadcast (on a pay per download model).
As well as an outline of how OpNet vid feeds work, State of the Art also illustrates how the other popular medium, Holovision, works. Holovision takes the 'Star-Trek' Holodeck idea, and turns it into a consumer product. The idea isn't in and of itself anything new, but it gives a greater understanding of how consumer media is varied, dynamic and can be 'immersive' in the 22nd Century - all from the comfort of your own home.
A couple of sidebars compliment this section as well. One is a report from the (ever-present) Cori Heisler about the Orgotek spin-off 'LightBringer' in the form of an interview (albeit brief) with Orgotek Prexy Alex Cassel. The second sidebar is a local news report (Luna Sun Times) of the cast and crew of popular 'vid 'Jake Danger: Aberrant Hunter' as they are on set on Luna.
Although there is a large image of Alex Cassel (in mini-comp avatar form), the 'Light Bringer' logo and the Esperanza crash (as seen in the Trinity core RPG) in this section, the image that stands out is another 'promo-board', but this time for 'Jake Danger: Aberrant Hunter'.
The photo itself is 'passable', but your first impression might be a bit cringe-worthy. The photo is a person (White Wolf employee, or random goober of the street?) in a variety of 'heroic' poses wearing, frankly, non-setting related garb - who is supposed to be 'Jake Danger'. The photo stands out as a little bit dodgy, but the interesting point is that long after TFR: Media was released, we found out that Jake 'Danger' Ace from Adventure! and the Jake Danger in this book are one and the same. The giveaway of course is that the 'actor' posing in the photo in TFR: Media and in the Adventure! core RPG (as Jake 'Danger' Ace) are one and the same.
Following the 'State of the Art' section is 'News Media', which runs for 6 pages if you include the large (full-page) 'Live the Adventure!' advert 'mockup' for Strike Team Psion action figures. The advert comes complete with a short order form, and artwork for the show, which (if I recall correctly) has been used in Trinity: Battleground.
News Media describes the effects of constant access to the broadcast media, and how that it has grown and changed into the highly intrusive technical driven media it is in Trinity's 22nd Century. As well as a detailed look at a variety of technology and how it is used to access news and 'vid feeds (including things like Vidspecs and similar gadgets), News Media looks (under the subsection, 'A Focused View') at the 'News Magazine'. You will find some information (although it is a bit sparse) about how the more traditional 'newspaper' has evolved into its incarnation in the 22nd Century.
Finishing off this section is a brief description of how difficult it can be to keep the news media in check, with an equally brief (a paragraph) overview of how quickly scandals can be spread from one end of human space to the other.
There are four sidebars complementing this section - 'The New Addiction', 'The Dead Talk!', 'The Yi Conspiracy' and 'Public-Relations Directive #6'.
The New Addiction details a medical condition called 'Information Addiction Syndrome'. Although the idea of information overload, or information addiction isn't new, the last line of this sidebar offers a (only slightly) new take on the idea "...... Strangely enough, some sufferers have an uncanny ability to draw accurate conclusions out of the cornucopia of news they consume".
The Dead Talk! sidebar describes how the (as of 2117) recently passed away Warren Shaw is recreated by studio execs as the 'Satisfactory Intelligence Construct' you see mentioned in other Trinity books.
The Yi Conspiracy (complete with Coalition Arc image from the core RPG) deals with Cori Heislers take on how the UN should take its eyes off the Huang Marr events (Darkness Revealed Trilogy) and put them back on the Coalition Arc encountered by the jump-ship 'Yi'. Whilst it makes for interesting reading, reminding you of the ongoing Coalition story arc, you can;t help but wonder what it's doing in this subsection of book.
Public-Relations Directive #6 is an overview of one of the directives the Aeon Trinity hands down to its field agents. The first line reads 'Avoid contact with the media whenever possible' As for the rest of the sidebar, you get the idea. Interestingly, it had been noted by some of my players that the Aeon Society in the Trinity era really can come over as the no-so-shadowy bad guy on occasion. Sidebars like this one go a long way to increasing the bad reputation that Aeon may get.
The next section of the book, titled 'Diversions' takes up another six pages and goes into some depth (although again the writers are not afforded enough space due to the nature of the TFR format) about the other types of media and entertainment in the 22nd Century. 'Spectacles', Live Theatre, Music, Holidays and games are covered (in that order). Spectacles covers the history of entertainment, from late 20th Century, through the Aberrant era and up to 'present day' This is a useful resource for those of you who haven't invested in the Aberrant RPG. Other than that, it felt a bit flat, covering old ground.
Live Theatre, Holidays, Music and Games provide more useful insights, covering a wide range of topics in a few short pages such as how traditional entertainment formats (such as theatre) have survived to the present day, how virtual-clubs and HUDsets now dominate the music scene, new national (international) holidays dates due to events like the First Encounter with the Qin, and how virtual 'avatar driven' worlds are the mainstay of 22nd Century computer games. There really is a wealth of information on these few pages, making the book worth the purchase just for this information. Until this point the book had focused largely on 'news' media, rather than entertainment. You can really sense that the writers had a lot more to say than they could fit in here, with the ideas literally wanting to break free from the pages and jump right into your own games. I challenge you to read this and not use the ideas in your games as soon as you can!
Whilst the standard format of useful, illustrative sidebars does not change in this section, with graphic descriptions of modern entertainment in practice over five sidebars, this section is let down (ever so) slightly by a shameless advert for the Aberrant RPG. At the time when TFR: Media was released, the 'new' game from White Wolf (promoted with the 'its not what you think it is' adverts) was imminent. The Aberrant advert takes the form of three pieces of art which ultimately were in the Aberrant RPG and a transcript of a series of OpNet e-mail's where the Aeon Trinity discover said images on the OpNet and subsequently have them removed.
Honestly, this felt out of place at the time, and rereading the book now, it still does. Fair-play to White Wolf for building the advert into the subject matter instead of taking up a page (considering the space premium) with an actual advert for the Aberrant game though.
The penultimate section of the book is 'Media Players' where, over four pages various entertainment and media organizations are given consideration with a few paragraphs of text and a logo each. This basically expands upon the information already provided in the Trinity RPG, covering 'new' organizations such as the Asian Media Syndicate, Kostbaar, New Sudamerican Media, and Unlimited Studios (to name but a few of the 14 organizations covered). Consider this section a quick 'handy reference guide' to media services available across human space. If you want to use a media group, news channel or the like, but don;t want to create something yourself, this should suit you fine. A lot of the information here is predictable (e.g. New Sudamerican Media being extremely positive of the Norca, the music focused media group Stahu, the Federated Broadcasting Network being heavily in favor of the FSA etc).
Finally we get a brief look at the darker underside of the media - something which, given the portability, affordability and accessibility of technology in the 22nd Century, really should have been covered in more depth (but of course, page-count is at a minimum in TFR's). In the 'Gray Trade' we get a look at the sim-reality wet-suit. Borderline (hence 'gray trade') Illegal technology aside, its the way it has been portrayed that works really well.
The two pages of information takes the form of a recorded testimony from one Steven B. Pensver as he outlines his dealings in the sim-reality wetsuit trade. The Gray Trade is actually quite funny, with comments from 'Steven' such as "..... you can't just download a sim where you can get to bang the whole Tuna Sandwich cast, yeh? There's laws against that sort of thing.",
The Gray Trade finishes off TFR Media on a high note. If I had to give TFR: Media marks out of 10, I'd say 7. It does have some great moments e.g. the 'Gray Trade', and 'Diversions', but is let down by the plodding 'News Media' section, regular rehashing of art already in other books, and the Aberrant advert.
Finally, the book is difficult to get hold of. You may have to hunt for it on Internet auction web sites to find it.

Invasion of Absolute Zero - A Trinity Campaign, by Chris Hill
Summary: An epic adventure set on the A-Z space station in 'The Belt'
Status: Incomplete, but getting there slowly
How it came to be
This was the first A-Z campaign that I ran, and the second major campaign (the first being the Darkness Revealed Trilogy by White Wolf).
I'd wanted to further explore the possibilities of the 'Moss Eisley' style space port, the brief description of A-Z in the Trinity main book, and the Zeronet web pages caught my eye so I went for A-Z as the setting. I based the outline of the setting on the Zeronet pages, and kept some things the same - but I made large amounts of additions and modifications to this material.
The primary idea was to make the setting usable as a longer-term campaign setting, ideally getting a couple or three campaigns out of each group of characters. In order to do this, considering the wild cards my players normally throw at me, I decided to emphasize the diverse nature of the station as well as the criminal element - but in order to make the whole place workable in the longer term I played up the efforts of the station authorities (such as they are) to keep a semblance of order, if not necessarily law.
Building on the idea laid out in the Zeronet pages that money can buy you anything on the station, I 'institutionalized' things such as bribery and corruption via the local authority (the Fuyoushi Advisory Council) and heavily played up the idea of obtaining licenses and permit for things that might be considered illegal elsewhere (high power weapons, borderline 'dodgy' star ships etc).
I also built on the ISRA / Police Force relationship to show that when things were going very bad (i.e., the players running amok), then the authorities could and would act decisively.
To give the characters plenty to explore as well as the Promenade and the various space docks, I opened up the lower levels of the station, and kept them relatively lawless - organized into local gangs and the like. Here I fleshed out the habitat modules, although in my mind these areas were quite large, so I knew I had plenty of room for expansion in later games.
I also kept the top levels and the station and command and control almost completely off limits - this helped to add a level of mystique to the powers that be, and kept the players from getting a little bit to gung-ho in game. The idea that the 'real power' on the station was shrouded in mystery and couldn't be easily accessed helped to keep a balance on the activities of the characters.
Finally, as the players relied on the ST to obtain information from 3rd parties on the station, I used the opportunity to turn the Zeronet Avatar - Natty - into the 'comic gal' providing light relief when it was need - this became a very useful tool! Natty was a great idea by the creator of the Zeronet web pages, and I used her to great effect as a comic element, as well as an inexhaustible supply of local information. As the station ended up being very, very large, full of tens of thousands of inhabitants, this helped a great deal.
What I've detailed below is the various main elements of the stories that I ran that made up the first campaign, retrospectively called 'Invasion of A-Z' (I really was never one for game titles!).
The game ran for about 8 months, once a week, 4 hours a session - so as you can imagine there was a lot happening - the Story Segments below details the main plot areas of the campaign, but you will need to let the players fill out the times in between with their own activities. Just an example of some of the things my players (not necessarily in concert!) got up to during 'non-plot' time included:
Getting involved in transporting illegal bioapps Trying to mix with the more 'respected' gangsters on the station Doing a variety of crooked deals with 'A' Set up their own nightclub on The Promenade - The Pulse Some started working for the Aeon Trinity Became local business leaders Became local celebrities Went head to head with the gangs in the lower levels (retrospectively called 'Sub-Zero') and established medical supplies, power and food/water trains to Sub-Zero Set up a clinic (the Aesculapian of the party) in Sub-Zero Bought up property Spent a vast amount of time trying to figure out who the heads of the FAC really were (like I'm gonna tell!) Made contacts with the Triads in Sub-zero
INVASION OF ABSOLUTE ZERO - Theme & Mood
Well, to be completely honest theme and mood is up to you. There are so many possibilities with Absolute Zero. I went for a survival of the fittest - becoming a fight for, quite literally, survival kind of game. The one thing I found with the setting is that there are so many possibilities. I suggest you decide on theme and mood, and see how it takes you from there.
The only thing I'd advise is see if you can get the players to have characters that are no longer tied to an Order if possible, or if the players prefer Order affiliations, try to get them to be OK with criminal activities.
A-Z runs on money and crime, its that simple. 'Whiter than white types' will not find the game enjoyable. A-Z is shades of gray and a large helping of murky black.
I started the characters out with a bit of money and each had a good reason for being on the station - one was sent by his order (the ISRA'n) for reasons I never fully explained (hey its ISRA!), another was fleeing his Order (Ministry), another was so incompetent that his Order was glad to be rid of him, another was a neutral gun for hire etc. You get the idea that the PC's were not angels, OK?
The main idea was to give the characters, who were on the run, or far away from back-up, the opportunity to set up a base camp of sorts on the station.
Be aware that by the time we got playing the characters were all mercenary minded, and it took a bit of work to get the players to co-operate. This can be done quite easily though with a bit of imagination.
INVASION OF ABSOLUTE ZERO - Background
The first three campaigns I ran (Ok, so I'm writing the third at the moment…) were based around the behind the scenes plot in the various Trinity supplements that indicate that Aberrants are getting more and more organized, perhaps with a view to trying to reclaim earth.
It is important to remember that at the time of writing the first campaign, a good few of the Trinity books had not come out. So I made some assumptions that did not ultimately tie in with canon publications. This should have no great bearing on your game if you choose to run this campaign, but keep an eye our for little things that you might want to change.
Here is the general back-plot.
A powerful Nova calling himself TA0 is, for one reason or another, tasked with the taking of Absolute Zero to turn it into a stating platform and stronghold for the Aberrants.
TA0 was chosen due to his relatively minor taint (he bears but a single point), and his powers center around magnetism. TA0 is also a Warper, and is able to move his followers around with ease. Finally, TA0 is incredibly charismatic, a facility that would find its uses on the station.
Behind the scenes whilst the characters are getting to know each other and learn about the station, TA0 has several of his subjects (neutral followers) arrive at the station and take up residence in the lower levels (which were ultimately renamed 'Sub-zero' after the first campaign.
TA0 arrives soon after, dormed down (why advertise!), and begins establishing his cult in the lower levels of the station.
He quickly goes about gaining new followers, determining who are the major players on the station (he makes a point of learning about 'A') to ready for his ultimate 'invasion'.
This is where things don't quite go to plan. Back in the center of humanity, TA0 starts to realize he can't quite go through with the plans his Aberrant masters have for him, and has actually come to like being at the center of a 'cult' of followers once again. He is also aware that he is about as out of reach of his master as he possibly could be. The station is well defended after all.
During the course of the campaign, TA0's cultists start to make open displays of their worship for him, and TA0 allows himself to succumb to his own ego. He eventually makes a play to become the most prominent individual on the station during the Night of Murder.
By this time he has decided that humanity at large will never fully accept him (especially those friendly with Psions, and those who listen to Aeon), and his masters will never forgive him for straying from their dictates.
By the time the final showdown happens, TA0 is actually in a bit of a predicament. His followers have continued to bring dangerous attention, his actions during the Night of Murder have burnt more bridges than he realizes, and he cannot return to his masters.
He needs to make a play for time.
TA0 decides to take the characters into his confidence, attempting to turn their now (heightened) bloodlust into a wary respect. In his own way, TA0 almost comes to think of the characters as a way to change the situation he is in, by giving them information that Aeon itself would (and has) kill to protect.
This then sets the scene for the next campaign, 'Return to A-Z' - like I said, I wasn't one for game titles.
INVASION OF ABSOLUTE ZERO - Story Segment Summary (INCOMPLETE)
Like I mentioned above, the details below are from the main campaign 'Uberplot' - if there is anything you don't like, tear it out or come up with something of your own. If something will not work with your players / characters, then change it. Things went as below as I played on their characters motivations, backgrounds etc. The character 'Ben' started out as an innocent enough contact of one of the players, and ultimately became a major plot device!
1 - Welcome to Absolute Zero Arriving or meeting up at the station Getting a feel for the layout Meeting some local personalities (including the Zeronet Avatar - Natty) Making some contacts (all legal-ish at this point) Getting swindled at least once in the Marketplace Sorting out places to stay / deciding upon what become regular haunts Introduce characters to the laws regarding weapons permits and such via the FPF Use this segment to introduce your version of A-Z, any relevant locals, organizations, businesses etc. I kept the players away from the rest of the station, focusing on the Promenade and the Space Docks. I started the characters out with about 5000 Yuan each, good reasons to be on the station (some hiding, some fleeing, some local etc).
You'll find that a good couple of sessions can be got out of introducing the characters to the station. I pretty much let them do what they wanted, within the boundaries of the setting - which worked well, the players got a chance to set their own roots on the station, which is very important later in the game - they ultimately have to feel like they have something to defend, or loose if the station 'went under'.
2 - Going into Business Finding a reason to stay, longer term, on the station Discovering all the wonderful rules, regs and paperwork that surrounds the authorities See if the players will into business for themselves, it's a great setting for it, and places the characters slightly in the 'open', with a least one group (public, FAC, FPF, Businesspeople, Criminals etc) - which comes in useful for providing side adventures Meeting the various financial institutes on the station (my favorite was taking the basic description of Travis Finance in the A-Z Players Guide and turning it into a really nasty loan shark organization) Getting the logistics of the business off the ground (my players went for a Promenade Nightspot, complete with maps, logo, advertising campaign etc - they kinda got into the game a bit! - they even had a grand opening!)
Making a life for yourself on Absolute Zero requires brains as well as brawn. The characters will need both to a home for themselves on A-Z. This segment gives them an opportunity to try and make a go for it themselves, play on the character backgrounds here if you can as well as any connections they have already made. My players, being a showy bunch, went for a 'right in the open' business - a Night Club - on the top level of the Promenade, overlooking the marketplace on the lower level. This was perfect to be honest (if completely unexpected) as it game me a locale that all the characters had ties to (it was kind of a joint venture) and one that could be the center of much of the activity later on when the real trouble begins. No one said life on A-Z was easy.
This segment of the campaign took several weeks, as the players made plans, met new people, (or didn't meet new people in the case of the FAC - although they tried) and generally set up home and shop for themselves.
3 - A Meeting… with 'A'
[*]First part of the Uberplot introduced
[*]Characters are either introduced to the darker side of A-Z, or get more involved with it (if your players get into criminal activities of the bat)
[*]Major campaign NPC introduced, who the characters should come to love to hate
[*]This segment of the campaign introduces the characters to the enigmatic 'A', rumored to be a well-connected 'criminal free agent'.
Play on the characters associations here if you can. The idea is that 'A' offers the characters something they can't refuse, something illegal - in the case of my players it was money in return for delivery of an item to people in the upper areas of the station. The players were interested as their characters not only needed money (setting up the business broke them a bit) and they desperately wanted to know more about the (to date) off limits upper sections of the station.
Use whatever works best for you though. 'A' is a bad-ass, make no mistake. He is always involved in something highly illegal, his history is shrouded in mystery - a complete cipher. Play him as very menacing, there is thinly veiled anger or a threat underneath everything he says, every deal he makes - it is important that a relationship of sorts is established between the players and 'A' - as he is around until the end of the campaign (in fact, he made it through until the end of the second one I ran - although he met his end in the last session - big VARG!)
'A' is also not at all stupid. He usually stays down in the space docks (public space docks, not the trader spacedocks), where his heavily jury-rigged ship is ready to go at a minutes notice. When not on his ship, 'A' is meeting with his various business and criminal contacts on the lower levels of the station, or very rarely, in the Belt itself (he has some pirate contacts).
Storyteller's Only: 'A' is very, very powerful. What he doesn't want anyone to learn is that he's on the run - or more specifically, WHY he's on the run.
'A' is on the run from non other than Orgotek's inner circle. 'A' is possibly one of the most powerful Tek's outside of this illustrious group. At some point in his long career, he angered someone very high up in Orgotek - high up enough to have warranted the attention of Orgotek's Option 8 from time to time.
Why is 'A' on the station? Well, its far enough away from the big O to keep them from putting an end to his run for good (remember, this game is set before the return of the Upeo), and he can pretty much do what he wants here, provided he is careful - 'A' spends a lot of his time tying up loose ends on deals he is involved in.
He will use the characters (and anybody else for that mater) for his own ends, whilst masterfully convincing them that they are acting on their own accord. I'll never forget that my players (well, some of them) were totally convinced that 'A' was a good guy - right until he tried to kill the lot of them in the second campaign!
From a game mechanics perspective, 'A' is packing an awful lot of psionic capability (he has had the time and the resources to come up with a few new abilities of his own and has already developed something akin to the light bending ability of the Chromatics) - he has a heavily customized star ship, a lot of contacts on A-Z (he's been here for about 4 years), and has his fingers in everything from legitimate business, criminal gangs in Sub-Zero, murder, fraud etc.
4 - The Assassination Attempt
[*]Characters learn more about 'A' - or more to the point, his enemies
[*]Just how dangerous the station can be is illustrated
[*]During the course of the characters' dealings with 'A', there is an assassination attempt on him.
A good place for this to happen is down in the space docks, or at a private rendezvous the characters and 'A' are having. Ensure that the characters and 'A' are together for this.
The assassination attempt is made by Option 8 of Orgotek. Set this one up how you like, but the players must be there as well. Use O8 to the best of their ability, I had a strike team of 8 of them go after 'A', using every trick they are capable of.
The idea is to get the characters to defend 'A', or at least themselves from O8.
5 - Regrouping
After nearly loosing their lives, the characters take time to regroup, adjust t recent events, and throw their efforts back into their business venture - for a very short time.
6 - Questions and…. more questions
Useful information comes from the most bizarre of places sometimes, and shows the characters how dangerous some of their new friends really are and who some of their new friends really are!
7 - Old Man Zhunghoa
Unbeknown to the characters, they make contact with the most powerful crime boss on the station! And he's such a nice guy J
8 - Some vitally needed cash!
With business pressures mounting, the local authorities taking their cut a well-needed financial shot in the arm comes from a shady source
9 - Erm, who's that guy?!?!?!
Whilst meeting 'A' about business, the characters are attacked by an extremely powerful foe - but who just really is the target?
10 - Portents
A series of disturbing events demonstrate a new player is in town - and he's playing for keeps.
11 - Double Agent!
Sometimes the most needed help comes from the most unlikely sources.
12 - Night of Destruction
As the characters try to come to grips with the fast paced events, the stakes are raised during the night of destruction as both the Fuyoushi Police Force and the Aeon Trinity itself devastated by coordinated attacks.
13 - The Aftermath
The events of the Night of destruction take their toll.
14 - A rallying call
The characters are thrown into the limelight with a rallying call from local business owners.
15 - Friends in very high places
The FAC, Aeon and the local law place a grave responsibility in the hands of the characters, which may very well get them ALL killed.
16 - You know, this guy is complex!
A surprising turn of events give the characters some backup, and a friend finally reveals his true colors
17 - This just isn't right DAMMIT!
The characters come to grips with moral questions posed by their actions, and see just how bad life can get on Absolute Zero
18 - Trouble with the locals
After stepping on more toes than they can count, the characters have to survive a backlash on several fronts.
19 - Enemies move in
The enemy reveals itself - and its true face is terrifying. The characters escape from the lower levels of the station - just.
20 - Home sweet home
Back in the relative peace and quiet of their premises, the characters assess the truth of the threat to the station.
21 - TA0-sar
Before the characters can move further, the enemy makes its most daring move yet!
22 - The Cult of TA0
With a pitched battle behind them, the characters find out everything they need to know - and the jigsaw puzzle is completed - except for one last vital piece.
23 - Okay - we've had enough!
Motivated into action, under pressure from the FAC, Aeon, the FPF and other quarters, the characters get the opportunity to take the fight to the enemy.
24 - Where no one wants to go
In the deepest depths of the station, the characters step foot behind enemy lines.
25 - Showdown
The final showdown with TA0 takes place, with help arriving from a couple of old 'friends'.
26 - Revelations
After all is said and done, the most startling revelation comes from the enemy and the characters have to think about whether they are fighting the correct war; setting the stage for the second campaign - Return to A-Z.

Leviathan Jump Ship Reference, contributed by Madcat, compiled by others.
A registry of the Leviathan Jump Ships:
Kohl: Destroyed by the coalition.
Pandora: this one most likely got taken out by the coalition but it's last data pod said they were trying to evade the ark that was trailing them.
Meroe: sent to Far Nyumba.
Svaha: to Khantze Lu Ge.
Ananda: to Qinshui.
Shaka: to Karoo station.
Mae de Ceo: to Averiguas.
Aegypt: Unknown
Chicago: Unknown
Bolivar: Unknown
Europa: Unknown
Himalaya: Unknown
Kalikanaasi: Unknown
Iroqatsi: Unknown

Psionic Backlash, contributed by Thomas Due
I have always found that the rule for Psionic Backlash did not account enough for some of the "horror stories" described by psions in the books. I decided therefore to design my own rule, which I personally think is much better, and reflects the danger of high Psi. When a psion is exposed to a psionic backlash, he will suffer an automatic amount of damage equal to his level of Psi. This damage can be reduced by a Stamina + Resistance check. Should this check be botched, the psion will suffer an reduction to his Psi Score on a botch-for-point basis, in addition to the damage, which is lethal. The Psi Score reduction returns at one point per day. The damage may take longer. The damage suffered are usually Stun, but can in particular circumstances be Lethal.

Defensive Measures for Masterminds, When Guarding Against Psion Insurgency, contributed by Lee Cordochorea aka 'Thingmaker'
A lot of mastermind villains have a bad habit of not being paranoid enough. They will hire thugs as guards and expect them to outperform slick intruders. They will entrust their lieutenants despite the potential for treachery. Some will even go so far as to reveal their plans to an enemy before killing them (instead of afterward). Death traps are fun toys, of course, but should only be used to punish lazy or disloyal henchmen - never for dispatching enemies. Enemies must be engaged as early as possible, and as decisively as possible.
To this end, the following suggestions are presented for the up-and-coming masterminds who might earn the ire of noetically gifted individuals and groups.
Naturally, a good mastermind will have acquired a few noetic jamming devices One will be just the thing with which to poke the "eye" of that nosy clairsentient. Another comes in handy for discouraging the errant Upeo gate-crasher. Let's not forget one for our Ministry associates - don't want them distracting our sentries, now do we?
Speaking of sentries, a good mastermind never trusts them. The guards' laser comm gear is tied into an isolated central processor. The system checks up on the guards each in turn. Once every ten minutes or so, each guard's headset will briefly and softly chirp. This is a signal that the guard is to report. If the guard fails to respond with the current "all clear" code-word, then the software agent will dispatch a team to discover the problem - simultaneously alerting all personnel to "condition yellow." Be sure there are plenty of redundant signal paths for the repeaters. This precaution will minimize trouble from the intruders' vandalism. It is also wise to have a couple of backup isolated processors. Have them watch-dog one another and alert a human operator to shut down the one that's acting like a friend of Alex Cassel. Make sure that the human operator can monitor all the processors without the processors monitoring the operator! Monitoring that operator is a job for the Mastermind alone.
As to those intruders, how should they be handled? Kill the vitakinetic first. This would not be the case if you were not at home - you would kill the clear first - but you have a dampener that blinds the nosy one. How can you tell which is the VK? Simple, she's the one holding back and pumping pink aura into the lead assailants. Keep a guard behind a secret door to ambush her in the back. (Make sure his life insurance premium is paid up, psions really hate it when you kill their "innocent healer.") Speaking of death, don't just kill the shape-shifter. Kill the shape-shifter two or three times and then launch the remains into orbit (preferably on more than one shuttle). For most intruders I prefer the drop into an acid bath. This will stop just about anybody other than the flying or fast-thinking PK, or the Upeo who somehow functions despite your Teleportation dampener.
The hardest assault to repel always seems to come from those annoying PKs. The little bullets bounce off, the poison gas won't go through their telekinetic bubbles, and they refuse to fall into the pits! I recommend arming your inner guards with extremely big guns. Coilgun Carbines are a good choice. Load them up with a mix of armor-piercing and high explosive rounds. If nothing else, the dead comrades of the triumphant Legionnaire will forever haunt him for being so unstoppable.
As a final precaution, make sure that the location of those noetic dampeners is well chosen. I put mine in my escape vehicle! After all, "he who fights and runs away..."

Training a Trait, contributed by Thomas Due
Whenever a character wants to learn a new Ability or improve on one he already knows, he must train the Ability in question. This is done by first finding a trainer.
The trainer must pos-sess the ability Instruction and the trait being trained on at least one dot higher than the trainee. If these requirements are met, the training can begin. The trainee must achieve twice as many successes on an Intelligence + <Ability> check as the new level in the ability. He can roll once per week. He adds the successes on each check together, until he reaches his goal. Each botch subtracts one success.
Furthermore the trainer must roll Instruction once per week, and should he botch this roll, the entire week of training is lost. This training is considered to take two to three hours each day for the character. He can push the time barrier by training more hours. He cannot train more hours than he has dots in Intelligence. Each hour above that will add a +1 difficulty to his roll. Should the character fail in finding an instructor he can train himself, to an extend. This func-tions as normal, except he suffers a +1 difficulty to his roll at the end of each week, in addition to any other modifiers. If the character is training an Ability beyond three dots he suffers an additional +1 difficult for each dot above three. This only applies when training without an instructor.
For Example: Cain wishes to improve his tech-nique in Martial Arts. He possesses three dots in the ability. He finds an instructor who can train him further. Cain needs eight successes on an Intelligence + Martial Arts check. Each week he rolls the dice. After the first week he rolls four successes, and after the second, two. After he has completed three weeks of training he rolls again for a further three successes. He now has nine successes, as he required eight, he can now raise his Martial Arts to four dots.
Each week his instructor rolls his Instruction, should he have botched one of these rolls, the training would have taken four weeks, instead of three. Should he have been unable to find an instruc-tor he would suffer a +1 difficulty for training on his own, and +1 difficulty for training the fourth dot, for a total of +2 difficulty.

Rio Duplicity - an adventure for Trinity, contributed by Chris Hill
Summary: An adventure idea pitting new characters against a criminal underworld in Rio de Janeiro
This expanded adventure hook is designed to throw new Trinity characters into the criminal underworld of Rio De Janeiro in South America. The data below presumes that although the authorities in Rio do their best to stop drug traffic, it is ripe in lower sectors of the arcology. It is also presumed that this may be the first mission characters are undertaking for the Aeon Trinity, and that they know very little about the organization of Aeon (this is essential to the 'trickery' element of the story).
Information on the local area (mega-city style city blocks deep at the base of the arcology - ground level!),important drug running gangs (De Marco's Posse), and a pseudo-corporation that organizes criminal gangs. The details of how the story unfolds is totally up to the games master. The 'setting' information is here and no more. The rest is up to you.
Introduction:
The characters are based on a very minor science space-station in the orbit of South America. The characters have been on what passes for guard duty for the first few weeks of their careers as Trinity Agents. Life is dull, very very boring and entirely uneventful. The station is a large cylinder which branches out at one end into three more cylindrical gangways which connect laboratory modules. These modules and gangways have been the home of the characters for the past few weeks. No other Psions are on board the station and the characters are beginning to believe that they have been given a bit of a 'duff' assignment.
Whilst on duty a character walks past a holoscreen which alerts him/her to check their messages, information for their next assignment has arrived from Aeon.
When the characters check their holomessages they find a transmission from a member of Proteus Division (name not given) who details that they are needed to undertake an undercover operation in Rio De Janeiro. Local drug trafficking has escalated heavily within the last year in Rio, and gang wars are becoming more and more frequent and bloody. Local authorities have been turfed out by the well organized gangs and the lower regions of the arcology are becoming a battleground. To add to the problems it is believed that their may be Psion involvement. Whether this is actually the Orders (Norca or Orgotek for example) or rogue Psions is unknown.
The characters are informed that they must go underground and destabilize the drug trade and reveal any involvement by Psions in the drug industry. Aeon is aware of a particularly vicious up an coming gang that have taken over one of the megablocks in the lower arcology who are shipping the drug 'Brilliance' to other areas of earth and are becoming quite a key center for drug trade. Aeon advises that somehow the characters infiltrate the drug scene, and remove De Marco's Posse. The characters can attempt to join the gang or take it on pretending to be another, new, gang, Its up to them.
As long as the characters place themselves in a position for other Aeon operatives to take over at a future date, Aeon is not concerned how the task is done. It is advised that the Psion status of characters is kept as secret as possible, and only use powers when absolutely necessary. For their own safety.
The Proteus representative states that a second transmission is on the way detailing De Marco's gang members that are known and their usual hangouts.
The characters are due to leave on the next shuttle to Rio's Space Port within the hour. Characters MUST NOT contact Aeon during this mission, Aeon will contact the characters.
The Real Story
Ok.This is the duplicity part. The message didn't come from Aeon. Their is another gang (make up not important) that has been on the receiving end of most of De Marco's territory-grabs. One of them is an OpNet Hacker with a surprising amount of talent. He was under orders fro the leaders of his gang to hack into the DataFiles of an orbiting station of little importance to try and use insiders to establish an off-world smuggling racket. If they could start selling drugs to off-world traders, they would have more money to finance their war against De Marco. Now, this hacker is OK, but not brilliant. He couldn't get into the restricted cargo manifests, but he did catch brief details of a new crew addition to the station a couple of weeks ago. The characters. He determined Aeon as their origins, and obtained their names. That was it. He 'guessed' that the characters would be Psions, and started to hatch a plan.
He visited an Aeon OpNet Node to check out the design and structure of Aeon material and created a false transmission, which he sent along hacked communications channels to the Station. He hopes that the characters will land in Rio and remove De Marco and his accomplices. Then he plans to contact the characters again pretending to be the Aeon representative and will stage a setup to have the characters hand over the details of the little drug empire they will have established. With a bit of luck the characters will only find out about the duplicity when they get back to Aeon.
A clever character will ask for more data and send a message back to the Representative. There is only so much that this chap knows, and eventually is pressed, his actions and mannerism prove that he is an impostor. The characters could even contact Aeon direct and discover the trick. What they do then is up to them.
To top this off the messages that were received have been set for self-deletion and are deleted 5 minutes after both have been read. There goes the proof for the characters if they need it in future.
The Plot Thickens:
OK So the characters should now be on their way to Rio, unaware of the trick.
This means that:-
The characters have gone absent without leave from their assignment on the station Aeon has no idea of their whereabouts Characters will not attempt to contact Aeon if they obey the 'Representative's' message Characters will attempt to hide their Psion nature or (worse) act as rogue Psions If characters act as rogue Psions, then media footage of their Rio activities will make life a harder when they explain this away to Aeon Characters will have little equipment They are about to try to become drug barons They are totally unprepared for what stands against them They are kind of in the doo-doo so to speak and have got to figure things out for themselves
Now, the characters can be a bit clever here if they start to catch on. My players turned this one around on me and did exactly as they were told. They set up an opposing drug syndicate, whilst one character infiltrated De Marco's gang. Then, they progressively sabotaged De Marco from the inside (a few close calls by the way...) and attacked him openly as the other syndicate.
They got their faces on all the local media and became _very_ wanted by what was left of the local authorities.
The hacker tried to contain things a bit and take over when the characters had De Marco on his knees. But they didn't want to.
In a bit of a firefight they discovered the hacker was not an Aeon Rep, and went a bit ballistic (obviously realizing the dubious position they were in, what with all that media proof). The characters wasted the hacker and his gang with no remorse what so ever, and then set about organizing 'figureheads' to run their syndicate before Aeon arrived to charge them with various crimes against the Orders, Aeon, Local Authorities etc..
Now, each character inserted a 'right hand man' behind the figureheads of the syndicate.
When everything went to wash, Aeon gave the characters a severe ticking off, and sent them back on guard duty. Other gangs eliminated the figureheads
BUT The characters still had their 'right hand men' who controlled things from behind the scenes... so they managed to keep some control on their syndicate after all.
Sheesh.... don't players just do the most awkward things...?
DE MARCO'S POSSE
De Marco is a small time crook with big time ambitions. Apart from a desire to become a major player in the local crime scene in Rio de Janeiro he also has some skills which may go some way to helping him achieve his goals.
De Marco is knowledgeable of the processes required to grow and mature the plant which, when compounded becomes the recreational drug known as Brilliance.
Brilliance:
Brilliance is a very popular recreational drug that, although not lethal in small regulated doses, can be severely damaging to an imbibers health if taken too regularly or in uncontrolled doses. Brilliance is best available in tablet format that is easy to swallow for social occasions where rolling a joint would not be appropriate. The tablet is at best 'pure' Brilliance, which gives the greatest high - it is known for some 'manufacturers' to dilute the product to increase street coverage, although the high is significantly less effective with Brilliance tabs of this sort.
Brilliance is easily recognizable by the color pigmentation used in creation of the tablets, they are a subtle fluorescent orange - hence the name Brilliance. This coloring is just an 'addition' in the manufacturing process to make the drug more attractive to the street youth culture.
Game Effects
Description: Brilliance takes effect within 10 - 20 minutes of taking 1 tablet. The user feels incredibly relaxed while under the effects of the drug; which last between three to five hours depending upon the user. The character will also suffer mild hallucinations which are not life threatening par se. Brilliance is a classical upper - where the downs are very down. When the effect wears off the character will be listless, unmotivated, sullen and miserable with a low feeling of self worth for around 5-8 hours.
Dose: 1 tablet
Onset: 1-20 mins
Wearoff: 5-8 hours downer
Overdose: 5+ tabs
Cost: * to ** 120 yuan a dose
Duration: 3-5 hours
Effects: 'drunk' hallucinations
De Marco
Coordinate the gang, kill dissenters, controls Maleki, scares Thugs, Weed Girls. Does not scare Lui. Knows who they enemy is. Can't handle cops well.
Maleki
Does the 'hits', keeps 3rd rankers in check. Loyal to de Marco, knows other gangs well, has good gear - knows explosives
Lui
Old chemist, knows Brilliance like back of his hand, doesn't control warehouse Thugs, controls weed girls, good OpNet Skills, could arrange other movers/hit men, scared of de Marco and Maleki
Leo
Finds Thugs and Weed Girls, found Lui. Takes 10%, knows a few hit men. Scared of de Marco, thinks Maleki is nuts
Marilla
Has great contacts on Lunar and in the UAN (also in Italy). Arranges the deals, once OK'd by de Marco. Gets things done, takes 5%
Antonio
Native of Rio, knows the shipyards well - organelles the exports/shipping with a little help from Marilla. Bit of a bruiser.
Thugs
5 guys with guns, basic pistols work directly for de Marco/Maleki
Warehouse Thugs
Monitor the warehouse/weed girls/Lui - report to Maleki. Kill all intruders, have automatic weapons, and a Brilliance habit.
Weed Girls
Grow the plants in warehouse - live upstairs in warehouse - ex junkies or whores, de Marco's prisoners - regularly rapes them/kills them keeping Leo busy as a result.
Gang Resources
Buildings:
1 warehouse split into three levels:
Basement - used for drug growing/storage
Ground - used for legitimate shipping company
First - used for living quarter for weed girls
1 winebar and back office
Basement - Wine cellar / storage
Ground - Wine bar/bistro - back office
First - de Marco's living quarters
Equipment:
Guns
All persons, with the exception of the Weed Girls and Lui have one Banji Cyclone Autopistol. WH Thugs 1 & 2 are also equipped with L-K MAC-803 Automatic carbine's Maleki is also equipped with a Banji Lightening Taser Baton and a L-K Protector Auto shotgun. De Marco is also armed with an Aris SureSting Flechette Pistol
Armour Unless stated, all persons wear normal clothes. Leo, Marilla and Antonio all have Armored Vests [1/3] torso only. Maleki wears an Armored Vest [1/3] torso only De Marco does not wear any armour.
Vehicles
Porter-Andersen Zenith's
1 Durest CyberCycle (Maleki's)
Drugs - Brilliance
All Brilliance of the de Marco gang is produced and stored in the Warehouse. This way it cuts down production time and is fairly well guarded.
There are 1000 completed Brilliance tabs at any one time. These are stored in the basement of the Warehouse. At any one time there is also 200 tabs in mid production in the cultivating section of the basement; and enough weed growing to generate 1000 more tabs when fully grown (growth period of 7 weeks with appropriate attention.
Gang Statistics
See the Trinity Character Archive page for details of De Marco and some templates for gangers that can be used in this story.
That's not all though - Behind the Scenes
De Marco's Posse is but one gang in the middle of a thriving drug underworld. Many many gangs inhabit the surrounding areas and will all attempt to take out the gang, its allies and each other. Even the characters.
Above all this, there is one organization who supplies the drugs into the system. The gangs, like De Marco's, are but pawns in the 'greater scheme of things'. A larger, legitimate organization really runs the drug trade. If the characters are to influence the local drug scene in any way, they are likely to come across this organization for better or for worse.
Remember, this organization maintains a front of respectability, donates money to worthy causes, has several authorities in its back pocket, and runs dozens of gangs all the same size as De Marco's. This organization is The Dawn Organization
The Dawn Organization
Mr Dawn
One of the largest criminal organizations in the East of Rio de Janeiro, the Dawn Organization is essentially a classic organized criminal operation using a front of established business to conceal their real activities. The Dawn Organization, when referred to, means the financial services company located in an south East Rio megablock office sector. The Dawn Organization takes its name from its 'silent' partner's own name, Mr Dawn. He is never present at the offices, and in fact only calls upon the company Directors when he needs their services. As he both owns the company, and is capable of 'removing' any uncooperative Director they all do exactly as he says when he contacts them. He ultimately has total control over the organization
A front of Respectability.
The Dawn Organization has offices in the South of East Rio, neighboring Copocabana. The offices are situated on the 136th floor of the 200 floor block. The block itself it is similar to most blocks in East Rio. This one is nearly 2 kilometers in height, (housing 200 enormous floors). It is important to note that an entire floor of a megablock is a community unto itself, and houses a massive amount of homes, business and other organizations This particular megablock has the following make up:-
1-55 Waste Town:
Cheap, almost derelict living quarters which makes for living conditions not much removed from conditions in Shanty Sprawl. (a shanty town on the outskirts of the Rio arcology; which is riddled with the dead, the dying and the diseased.
56-110 Mercantile:
Referred to as 'the town', this is the merchant quarters. In these 54 floors is an entire economy unto itself. Market stalls, Shop Traders, Recycled Food vendors, Recreational facilities (occasional vice) and Night Life are all accommodated in this sector.
111 - 120 Block Security:
These 9 floors contain the security staff for the entire complex. Security guards dominate floors 118 - 120, effectively separating the lower sections of the block from the upper sections. Floors 111-117 house the local Policia, administrative staff, maintenance staff and (now abandoned) Rio West Officials Office.
121-175 Business Sector:
This sector houses hundreds of different firms that deal in hardtech, biotech (for the Norca), financial services, the shipping industry, OpNet Security, and of course Medicine. The higher up, the more kudos gained. Of course, the higher up the more you pay. To avoid having to use the lower floors, Gravcrystal Cab services are available along the many 'city-top' roadways supported by the top floors of surrounding buildings. A network of such runway's dominate the entirety of East Rio's skyline. Some of these roadways connect to the heavily guarded West Rio Gates, several kilometers above the city's ground level.
176-200 Road Maintenance:
The structural supports for the network of gravcrystal grid roadways are based on these floors - jutting out from the top of the building at extreme and varied angles. Without such supports on most of the megablocks in East Rio, the road system would collapse. Maintenance teams for the roadways are housed here, in accommodation that is very poor quality; although the view is amazing!
The Dawn Organization rents office space from East Rio's City Administrators on the 136th floor of this megablock. It occupies almost a fifth of the entire floor (8000 square feet). The Dawn Organization hires staff (those on its official documentation) as follows:-
The Dawn Organization is financed by Mr Dawn directly, through a 'silent shareholder' deal, which enables the Directors to go about their business as dictated by Mr Dawn. Each of the Directors have a small financial stake in the company, totaling 15% each, with Mr Dawn holding the remaining 55%.
The Face Behind the Mask
The Dawn Organization is simply a front to deflect any probing questions about Mr Dawn and his associates. It also serves certain functions through manipulating paperwork and OpNet records in order to meet Mr Dawn's criminal activities. Mr Dawn is one of the most successful crime bosses in East Rio. His activities include all elements of criminal function. Mr Dawn sustains a large criminal gang which is very well organized to maintain their stranglehold on certain illegal activities within the city
Mr Dawn sits quite happily at the top of this organization He also sits at the top of the Dawn Organization Money comes in from 'questionable deals' from the Dawn Organization and far more money comes in from activities of the criminal organization
Each employee understands their position in the organization, and very rarely acts against each other (openly) for fear of incurring Mr Dawn's personal wrath. Each member also knows of the sniveling Phreak, a Psion who has total loyalty it seems to Mr Dawn. Phreak has excellent Biokinetic skills as well as a latent talent for Telekinesis. These skills make him ideal for punishing those who do not do as Mr Dawn instructs. Mr Dawn ensures that fear of him personally and that of Phreak are optimal all the time to keep the organization from self-destructing (as happens to dozens of crime gangs daily in East Rio).
Each member is responsible for a particular facet of business and Mr Dawn occasionally calls 'board meetings' to keep up to date with each area of his business. At such meetings, each member reports on the situation at hand, how trade is and identifies any particular problems.
... and that's all folks!
OK... that's all the information I had drawn up to work with. A bit of setting, a general plot, some bad guys with a paragraph of description here and there. Oh, and I drew up the rules for Maleki's Durest CyberCycle, which can be found on the equipment page of the <a href="/tech/index.html">Tech section</a> of this web site.
The one thing that I made a constant throughout the entire game, was the atmosphere of living in and around Rio as an arcology. If you think along the lines of Fifth Element for cityscape and Judge Dread for the general attitude of residents. Add to that a large Chinese shanty town on the outskirts of the city and an attempt at a bustling space port near by. Then you get the picture.

Collection of Story Ideas
Author: see each idea
Summary: a repository of short story ideas to help inspire Trinity Storytellers
Based on the PS2 game Kinetica - by No Sheep
Well the first idea I had was based off of the Ps2 game Kinetica. In the game, you play a cyborg style racer doing tricks and racing in lots of really odd boards. Well as a game idea, I was thinking about having the PC's just finish the Decent through Darkness stories and getting the message of an odd missing person's case. The missing person was an EK latent and a rather wealthy playboy too. The cops called Aeon because the body of Mr. Wealth Playboy was found at an underground race track. He had been implanted with some highly illegal cybernetics that allowed him to race. There is also a stable there which showed there were at least 6 other racers.
Now the group gets to track back who owns the race track, who has been making these cybernetics and other possible missing person cases that link to this case.
Based on Gallerians - by No Sheep
The other idea I've been toying with is a storyline based off of Gallerians. The PC's would be between 16-19 years old. They wake up in large medical style hospital and they meet up while trying to escape the building. All they know is a man's voice in their head telling them how to get out and where to go. They can't remember their past but they know they have to get away from these people. While they get past the guards, they discover their own psionic powers. Then they have to make it outside and find the mysterious mentor who tells them that they are the next generation and if they wish to avoid slavery, they have to get off planet to Luna and another group who will protect them.
In reality, a few years before the PC's several high ranking members of the Rexs, EKs, Telepaths and Legionnaires started work on making a Prometheus tank on their own. They had discovered the limitation put on the old tanks by the Doyen. They want a tank that isn't limited. So in super-secret-mystery fashion, they build their own. But they find out that only children may be triggered this way. Adults will die horrible screaming death.
The scientists and psions that created the tank have a falling out. Some of the more reputable scientists and psions are discredited in public and have to go into hiding. The bad scientists and psions are left in control of the new tank. They start raising killers and perfect soldiers from the children dunked in the tank.
The good psions go to a clear to help them. The clear finds a way to reach out to some of the children (the PCs) and lure them away. Now the good psions have to train the kids to control their powers off world.
(And to answer a question I see forming, all of the scientist and psions have to keep quiet about this because the Doyen have become closer to humanity and the humans know that if the Doyen find out, they will do anything to destroy all their work, the kids, them and the tank.)
Prototype Jumpship Disappearing - by notsoangrydave
Another idea i had that i actually started a couple summers ago but never finished was that a prototype jumpship disappeared, and the pcs have to go find it. the deeper they dig, the more they discover about a massive cover-up and one order's incredibly ambitious gamble for control over the Aeon Trinity...
No Sheep, have you thought about FSA sponsorship? that's exactly the kind of thing the FSA's massive secret projects budget might be funding. i can see a lot of opportunity out of that, what with the agents of the group in control hounding the pc's, forcing them to perhaps go through criminal elements to get to the moon, which causes more problems.
...and of course, if anyone found out what they were, the pc's would have to flee from them, too, as every organization in settled space wants to get their hands on a multi-aptitude psion, mostly for testing reasons.

Fires of God, contributed by E.Fabiaschi
They came to our world in a haze of fire & fury; we watched the entire sky alight with there presence. Across the spectrums visions we watched with curious eyes & the presence of an open mind. Into the people's ranks came the great deceiver, Gabriel spoke to our leaders in the voice that echoes in the mind. What was ours became theirs with the promise of a future. It turned to cold, death, & the ending of many of my people caught within the bounds of hunger away from the light of the transition. We cannot forget nor forgive the Night of Lies. Truth must always illuminate the mind lest the memory slide into the darkness of the Sea of Ignorance.
Translation from Green's of Shade Chromatic religious leader about memories from the Night of Lies 2122.
This article concerns the group of Aberrant's featured in the Trinity series Alien Invasion, further there is mention in Stellar Frontiers, yet we know next to nothing about this group of highly dangerous & enigmatic villains. If you're a player who's game master is running the Alien Invasion series stop reading here! You're only going to spoil the surprise of a finely crafted series of adventures that will add to a wonderful role playing experience.
So here is what we do know as readers of the series, the speech on page 69 of Invasion called the Terrible Swift Sword gives the name of the nova known as Uriel to be Jason O'Hare. The interview takes place during 2049 according to the Trinity time line, 2049 to 2061-various major cities (mostly in North America & Europe suffer destruction at Aberrant hands).
In my humble opinion Uriel is one of those novas. The interview gives the impression that Uriel & company is a group of Evangelical Christian fanatics. His group was formed in 2047 just about one year after the Teragen faction know as Allah's legion seizes control of Bahrain. Seems like religious fervor was in the air that year. Uriel is a real fruitcake who thinks that he God's terrible swift sword & agent on Earth. The Seraphim Uriel's traveling tent revival show might be laughable if they didn't go on crusades across the States. These crusades recruit new followers & punish sinners. Under the heading of punishment the Seraphim destroyed Aspen Colorado in 2048.
Yet with all of this great background in Invasion book one we're not give any templates for the Seraphim or Uriel who is dead by the time of the events in the adventure. The Storyteller is told to use the aberrant template on page 303 of the Trinity rule book. Don't make this group who has so much more potential into the standard monster of the week. I mean this was a group whose leader received a vision from God to lead his children to a New Canaan. What they found was a harsh planet with a group of primitive people who they could grind into the earth. To the Chromatics, these novas are the great corrupters of their planet. There is some much more room to flesh out these novas.
So how does one create some truly memorable villains? Well kids grab your copy of the aberrant rule book& turn to page 103. Use the rule for one dot of Quantum equals one point of initial taint. Remember that trait costs can't be saved on. But hey beginning Quantum rating of three is nice with the max of seven can be down right nasty. What do we know about the main leader of the Seraphim? Uriel thinks that he's one of God's angels on Earth. Now pulling out my copy of the Angel Dictionary I see that Uriel means Fire of God. Also known as the regent of the sun, the flame of God, & the angel of presence.
The entry further states that he is the sharpest sighted in heaven. His symbol is an open hand holding a flame. Using this I open Aberrant & go to work building a character with the powers of warp, mega-stamina, mega-perception, mega-manipulation, & elemental anima with the element being fire of course. Taint should reflect his nature, lets see Anima banner with the sword of god as the symbol. Energy emission with the fires at his command leaking out of his skin, mental disorders like receiving visions from God, megalomania, vestigial limbs with four useless wings.
Given time we'll go fill the rest of his character sheet. In the Invasion text we're also given the name of another of the Seraphim Gabriel who has some type of telepathic powers. Using the Angel dictionary we can see that the information in the entry is quite extensive. His name means Strength of God, he is the angel of resurrection, mercy, vengeance, death, revelation. We've quite a bit to work with here putting some flesh on this character. For example his powers could revolve around healing, & death with the dual nature of his abilities played around with for the amusement of the players. Examples of the various abilities that might crop up are healing, magnetic mastery, pretercognition, telepathy, body morph, flight, etc. Am trying to keep the angel motif intact. I've found that the names for most of these groups also contain valuable insight into their motives & actions. Novas by there very nature are not always subtle. Uriel's group operated for years on Chrome Prime. This begs the question how did they survive?
Well if I was Uriel leading my followers for the "New Canaan" among the heavens followers would be a must. Promise them that their place in after life was assured. Well, 200 people would be a good start. They would have a hard life indeed on a strange New World with hostile life forms. You can bet that if any of them were left alive after the events of Invasion they'd have very high survival skills indeed. People can survive in very adverse circumstances. The cult of the Seraphim, used things like field kits, special tents designed for the atmosphere of Chrome Prime, lasers, and vacuum environment suits, oxygen generation equipment, most of all plenty of faith in their nova leaders.
Speaking of the novas the name Seraphim is given to the four angels around God's throne who sing holy, holy, and holy. They are responsible for love, light, & fire. They also take the form of fiery serpents other forms include angels with four faces & six wings. They also roar like lions what even that means. For the purpose of design the storyteller should keep in mind the idea of fire which over the years has been seen as a cleansing element in the various Christian religions over the centuries. The Storyteller could set up the dynamic of the Chromatics using light & the Seraphim using plasma. It makes a nice interplay as these elements wash over the surface of the planet. A very chilling proposition for characters caught in the crossfire. Got carried away there for a moment, sorry. I've decided that since there are four Seraphim than I'll use these four as Uriel's advisors. Gabriel should also be counted among their ranks. Others include Michael, Raphael, & Israel. Draw inspiration on these from many different sources.
Finally I'd like to draw on the describing the visual element of these Aberrant's The raw visual impact that a storyteller can impart to his players is incredible for example, the following description of Michael. As your characters watch there is movement on the horizon. It moves through the sky at tremendous speed, contrails forming around the greenish shape. As it passes over your position we get a good look at the silvery shape cast in the sky. Upon its next pass, it slows to a stop & hovers. With metallic green wings reaching toward the heavens it regards you. Eyes of ebon fire burn from under a helm of white armor cast in the shape of some lost sea creature. With a sense of horror you realize that it is the creatures skin. Fire dances over the limbs of the armored nightmare. It regards you with the cool intelligence of a man looking at a bug. Held in hands far to delicate a spear of fire glows in the shadow of this being's wings. A movement far off to the left distracts him. With a flick of his wrist the spear of fire is launched & a quick series of explosions can be heard through your suit. There is a soundless explosion of light in the being's hand & another spear appears. With cool indifference he launches skyward. You've just seen Michael & lived count yourself lucky.
This author in no way feels that his work should impact on the religious beliefs of his audience after all we describing a game. Thank you for your time.

Echo Station - a story for Trinity, contributed by Micael B. Lee.
Summary:
This adventure is designed for 3-5 players, playing Trinity field operatives recently assigned to the Luna field office. Even in an organization as wealthy and influential as the Trinity, her off-planet outposts must often make do with limited resources and personnel, and the office at Olympus is no exception.
TRITON ARCHIVE
Source: Luna Business Weekly, June 15, 2118
Interplanetary Ores Goes for the Gold
-Fledgling Mining Company Gambles for Big Payoff
In a surprise press announcement early yesterday, officials from Interplanetary Ores reported that they have presented orbital shipbuilder GenDyne with a 40 million-yuan purchase order for three of the newly-designed Crucible-class asteroid mining ships.
These advanced vessels, touted as the "future of deep-space mining", represents a substantial expenditure of capital for a company that has yet to stake a single claim in the Ceres Belt. Interstellar Ores' spokesperson, Jan Beylich, described the expensive purchases as part of "an aggressive strategy to maximize resources with the most modern and efficient equipment available." "With the purchase of these ships, Interplanetary Ores will be able to refine and process a wide spectrum of valuable metals simultaneously, with a fraction of the overhead and none of the safety concerns that our more conventional competitors share," Beylich stated. "Sure, it seems like a lot of money to spend for a company that has yet to begin operations, but we expect the ships to pay for themselves in the first year. No one in the business world has risen to the top without taking risks, and Interplanetary Ores has no intention of settling for second-best." Officials with GenDyne expect the first of the Crucible units to come online in early 2119. Beylich stated that "the money used to purchase the ships was provided by private investors, who at this time wish to remain anonymous."
TRITON ARCHIVE
source: Vive le Legion!, October 2119
Beware of the Rockdogs!
Legionnaire Isabelle Longchamps wears a patch on her arm bearing a fiery-eyed canine lunging from a steel-gray asteroid. 12th Pursuit Squadron reads the red letters stitched across its top. The squadron's motto underlines the leaping beast: Bite Deep, Bark Later. "Belters have been calling us 'rockdogs' ever since we got here," Longchamps says with a wolfish smile of her own. "We figured we might as well make it official." Since its first operational deployment to Forward Firebase 30 in 2115, the 12th Squadron has taken the Belters' slang to heart, prowling their patch of the Ceres Belt with stealth, vigilance, and aggressiveness. When a pirate or smuggler crosses their path, the Rockdogs sink in their teeth and don't let go. "We catch more bad guys because we don't sit on our asses waiting for a distress call," Longchamps says with typical Legion frankness. "We get out there and prowl around, looking for trouble. If we find a ship running with no flight plan- or God help 'em, no IFF- we shake 'em down, right then and there." The Rockdogs' aggressiveness and gung-ho attitude has reaped an impressive amount of successes: the capture and destruction of 15 pirate ships (including the Black Diamond, one of the most successful ships of recent years) and the confiscation of two thousand tons of contraband cargo! No other operational unit in the Seventh Legion can boast as much. "There's just no way we could do business if it wasn't for the 12th Squadron," William Caldwell, regional manager for Interplanetary Ores, asserts. "I can think of at least three occasions since I have been here that they have saved our personnel and equipment from potential pirate attacks. The Belt is a long way from civilization. I mean, anything goes out here. You can't be too aggressive." Other individuals have disagreed with Caldwell's assertion, however. Several Earth-based shipping companies have made complaints to Legion headquarters in the past, citing unnecessary use of force and harassment by the 12th Squadron. In every case, the complaints have been withdrawn after careful review, but each incident adds to the squadron's territorial reputation. Legionnaire Longchamps has no problem with having a reputation for aggressiveness, or being overzealous. "Why the hell not? If you're legitimate, then we've got no problem with you. If a bad guy hears about us and thinks twice about stepping in our part of space, then we're doing our job right, yeh?"
SEVENTH LEGION MESSAGE ARCHIVES-CERES THEATER
Archive Group: G12452532 (Access Restricted)
From: William Caldwell, regional manager, Interplanetary Ores
To: Colonel Piet Haas, 5th Pursuit Wing
Date: January 9, 2120
Encryption: DSE
Subject: Officer Recommendation
Major:
At this time please allow me to express the admiration and respect that my company has for the efforts of the Seventh Legion, specifically the 12th Pursuit Squadron, in maintaining order and safety for our employees in the Ceres Belt. Since we have begun operations last year, your Legionnaires have saved the lives of countless individuals and prevented the loss of millions of yuan in expensive equipment. The hard work and courage of the 12th Squadron has contributed directly to the success of our young company, and we have not failed to go on record to laud their accomplishments. It has come to our attention that the 12th Squadron's current commander, Major Heinrich Dormann, has accepted a promotion and a staff posting on Earth, creating a need for a new squadron commander. For what it is worth, we would like to offer our unreserved recommendation for one of the squadron's most highly-decorated pilots, Captain Isabelle Longchamps. Her professionalism and positive attitude are a credit to her unit, and we believe her record of victories against pirate ships speaks for itself. From our close association with Captain Longchamps, we feel that she would be invaluable to promoting further commercial expansion of this part of the Belt, and would reflect very favorably on the Legion as a whole. Once again, you have our heartfelt thanks for the Legion's tireless efforts. If our company may be of assistance to your forces in the upcoming expansion of asteroidal habitats, we would be pleased to lend our abilities as a gesture of gratitude.
Yours truly,
William Caldwell
>>>>>>>>> --------------------------------------------------------------------- >>>>>>>>>
Rules Section
This adventure is designed for 3-5 players, playing Trinity field operatives recently assigned to the Luna field office. Even in an organization as wealthy and influential as the Trinity, her off-planet outposts must often make do with limited resources and personnel, and the office at Olympus is no exception. The station chief must carefully allocate the teams at her disposal to handle each situation as it arises, and frequently rookie teams are sent to handle routine or straightforward jobs that would free up more experienced agents.
Theme:
The theme of Echo Station is one of conspiracy. Nothing is quite what it seems. Even the most banal events can mask vast, secret plans.
Mood:
This adventure is best played for spookiness and paranoia. Think X-Files. Just when the players think they know what's going on, they turn a corner and find out that things are bigger and scarier than they imagined.
The Briefing
The characters completed training barely two weeks ago, traveling to Luna to begin their first assignment as Trinity field agents. For those who have never strayed out of Earth's gravity, the transition is as unsettling as it is awesome. The mood inside the Trinity field office is professional and hectic, as the station chief and her staff face juggle their limited number of agents between a flurry of assignments. For the first few days, the characters are put to work processing paperwork and getting a feel for how things are run out of the office, watching teams come and go with mounting eagerness and envy. Then, one afternoon, the station chief tells them it's time to earn their keep. They are to report to the briefing room for their first field assignment. The briefing room is a small, windowless chamber in the building's lower levels, containing a long meeting table, chairs, and a sidebar set with a coffee maker. Laura Brenner, the Luna station chief, awaits the team, sitting in a high-backed chair at the head of the table. Her manner is brusque, even slightly impatient, and she launches into the briefing as soon as the characters find their seats. "Okay, people, I'll say right from the start that this looks like a wild goose chase, but at least it will give you a chance to get out in the field and start learning how to work as a team. Yesterday, at 0900GMT, a merchant ship awaiting clearance to dock at Forward Firebase 30 picked up a weak transmission on the interplanetary distress frequency coming from within the Belt. The signal lasted for less than five seconds, and was badly distorted by interference. As far as the ship's comm officer could tell, the signal carried no understandable message, and it did not repeat." Brenner leans forward and touches a series of buttons recessed into the surface of the tabletop. "Things might have gone no further than that, but the captain of the merchant ship has a financial arrangement with Triton Division to share any unusual information he runs across while out in the Belt. When he made port at Luna this morning he handed over a recording of the signal, and we were able to clean it up somewhat with our equipment. This is what we found." A muted, surf-like sound echoes through the room, punctuated by momentary squeals of static. Suddenly, the characters hear a ragged, atonal buzzing, then, quite clearly, a man's frenzied scream. The shrieking lasts for a full five seconds, then the transmission ends. If the characters ask Brenner about the buzzing sound, she will say that the comm techs believe it is some form of high-energy interference. Characters may use Electronics (+1 difficulty) or alternately, Perception (+2 difficulty) to analyze what they heard. If successful, the characters feel that the noise isn't random interference -possibly some sort of local jamming. If the players get extra successes on their rolls, the Storyteller can add that not even that explanation sounds quite right, though. "Now, Absolute 30 has better signal processing equipment than we do," Brenner continues, "and if a merchant ship alongside the base heard the transmission, you can be damn sure the base did, too. But the firebase sent no word of a distress signal to the proper authorities, as required, nor did the base dispatch any patrols or even heighten their alert status, which is very unusual. Given the reputation of the squadron based there, it's very, very unusual. Maybe the squadron commander had her reasons for discounting the signal…or maybe something odd is going on. We're sending you to Absolute 30 to find out. "Your assignment is to investigate this signal to the best of your ability, and determine why the Legion unit chose not to report it. How you handle this investigation is entirely up to you, but I want it kept low-key if at all possible. If someone gets wind that a Proteus team is investigating a Legion unit, it will get back to Earth sooner or later, and there is enough paranoia going around about the Orders without us adding any more. The fact that you are all new agents will give you a good amount of anonymity, as long as you don't draw attention to yourself. You will be catching a ride out to the firebase on a merchant ship making a scheduled resupply run. The ship leaves in two hours. Get out there, gather all the information you can, and get back. Start packing." Not that the characters will be able to take much with them to Absolute 30. Merchant ships frequently take on more passengers than they have living quarters to make some extra yuan on short hops, and the team is limited to carrying no more gear than they can fit in a small backpack. (Twinks who seek to get around this limitation by stating that they will wear their Chameleon BioVARG for the whole trip will be spaced out the first convenient airlock.) Characters who have no appreciable equipment will be issued a pistol of their choice (excepting plasma pistols!). In addition, the team leader will be given three dots' worth of yuan for "operational expenses" (read: bribes, hush money, whatever). Any use of this money must be accounted for carefully, and the team leader will be assured that she will be held responsible for every expenditure. If the characters take the wise precaution to do a little research before leaving for the firebase, have the players make Investigation rolls. Each character has enough time to check into one area of research before time to depart, so if the team has a number of things they want to look into, they will need to split up the areas of inquiry amongst themselves.
Forward Firebase 30:
If the characters wish to research info about the firebase, they learn that it became operational in March of 2115 as part of a network of early-warning and advance Legion bases running the circumference of the Ceres Belt. The base provides patrols and search-and-rescue forces for its section of the Belt, and is home to the 12th Pursuit Squadron, a unit of the Seventh Legion. The base itself is set in a hollowed-out asteroid, which is also home to the field offices of Interplanetary Ores, a small mining company that works exclusively in the area. The asteroid also maintains a fairly sizeable transient population, consisting mainly of prospectors and independent Belters looking to strike it big out among "the rocks".
12th Pursuit Squadron (Rockdogs):
Characters researching the squadron are at a +1 difficulty due the Legion's clannishness. Former Legionnaires can ignore the difficulty modifier. If the characters are successful, the Storyteller can share the "Beware of Rockdogs!" piece in the Setting section. The Rockdogs are a highly motivated, highly aggressive squadron with an enviable record of successes against pirates in their sector. The current commander is Captain Isabelle Longchamps, a French refugee with FSA citizenship. No less than eight companies have filed complaints with Legion headquarters regarding the 12th Squadron, all citing the use of unnecessary force and even harassment against ships operating in their sector. In each case the complaints were settled with a minimum of official notice, (presumably involving a lot of yuan), and no official action has ever been taken against the unit or its officers. The many complaints have served to make the squadron even more tightly-knit and distrustful of outsiders than the typical Legion outfit. Captain Isabelle Longchamps: The Legion guards personal information on their troops very closely, to prevent the possibility of Aberrant reprisals against the families of Legion personnel. Characters researching Longchamps do so at a +3 difficulty; former Legionnaires have a slightly easier time of it, suffering a +2 difficulty. Longchamps is a highly-decorated officer, having joined the Seventh Legion in 2114 and earning numerous commendations for bravery and coolness under fire. She has been with the 12th Squadron since its first posting to Absolute 30, and rose to command the unit after the previous CO was promoted to a position on Earth. Included in her file is a copy of an email recommending her for the post from the manager of Interplanetary Ores. (The Storyteller can share the email message in the Setting section.) There is no information in Longchamps' file regarding her life before joining the Legion. This is not too surprising; recruits are excepted into the Legion with no questions asked.
Interplanetary Ores:
Information on this small company is very sparse: characters face a +1 difficulty on their attempts. If the characters are successful, the Storyteller can share the "Interplanetary Ores Goes for the Gold" piece in the Setting section. Other than that first, ambitious press announcement, IO has pretty much faded from public view. Being a privately-held company, it does not publish annual financial reports, and it does not have a presence on the OpNet. If a researching character gets an extra success on their roll, they learn that IO received the third and final Crucible-class mining ship in late 2119, after which time it closed its small Luna office and shifted operations to its regional office at Absolute 30. If the character(s) get two extra successes on their roll, they learn that there is no mention anywhere of a home office for IO, nor is there any reference to the identity or identities of its officers or investors.
This concludes the introductory section of the adventure.

The following is an excerpt from an interview (November 2002) with the Developer for the E-book Trinity Field Report: Noetic Science
Noetics Developer: 'Knave'
Interviewer: 'Harlequin'
Harlequin: So, what is TFR: Noetics going to be all about; noetic science obviously, but what sort of things can we expect to see?
Knave: Well... there are two main goals about the TFR really. Firstly - it should bring in the ability for noeticists and psions to talk shop without going too far, but they should be able to build up some consistent reasoning along 'noetic lines'. The second major thing - the book is jam packed with plot threads and STUFF to work with we've expanded on some of the ideas in previous books and also come up with a lot of brand spanking new ones too. The great thing about doing a TFR is that because everything is 'in Character' things become easy to include in a game or ignore. This particular book isn't about new rules, its about new ideas, progress that is being made on projects, and all sorts of bizarre stuff. So I think that the format works really well for a fanbook - because - if you don't like something you don't even need to apply the golden rule - that bit of theory, rumour or whatever can just be 'wrong' in your particular game. Having a certain amount of speculation on various subjects happening in character in a game world can add a lot of depth...
Harlequin: Sounds great, but I gotta ask, do you deal with Process 418 at all?
Knave: Quite early on we decided that whilst we would expand a few of the ideas in the main books, we would avoid 418 as much as we could for the simple reason that EVERYONE already has an idea of what they want to happen, also because AsAs - if it happens - has 418 related material. That said... we have some 418... related...stuff... you'll have to wait and see.
Harlequin: Ok, we'll wait, but my next question is are you making new modes or powers to go into it?
Knave: Well not per se. Noetics is a TFR - so its first person so, there might be... reports and ideas there, but there aren't going to be rules for modes. No.
Harlequin: Can you give us a clue as to any new plot hooks in this book?
Knave: Heh... ok. I don't want to give away too much, especially considering that it's a short book. But, there are some suggestions about why the orders are as arrogant, I suppose, as they are. Also, there are some ideas about what's happening with noeticists working with the Eden novas and loads more stuff... but I think I'll stop there for now.
Harlequin: Cool, so what part of the project has been the most fun for you?
Knave: Well - it's been great working with the folks at EON (awwww ) No seriously, the other writers have come up with some great ideas and the ART! There is some really really great art happening too must admit though, that Flashmaster Watts floored me with his demo. He captured the mood of the whole Adventure! through to Trinity Science idea perfectly! Especially with big rock candy mountain.
Harlequin: Is there anything else you'd like to tell us about the book?
Knave: Mmmmm.... yeah. I really hope you all like reading it as much as we liked writing it! I hope it gives you guys loads of ideas for new games or livens up the scenes that fellow GMs describe, and I hope it keeps you going till the next E-Book is done. If it does any of those things it will have been a success!